Compute and edge
Device edge
Compute inside sensors, gateways, vehicles and robots that acts on data with no network round trip.
We design, integrate and deploy.
ISO/IEC 30141 (IoT reference architecture)
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Edge compute & AI/
AI towerA modular edge data centre, delivered as one unit.
AI tower, inside Edge compute & AI: device edge, far edge, near edge, regional edge and more. Every item is traced to its specification, from ISO/IEC 30141 (IoT reference architecture) to ETSI GS MEC 003 (framework and reference architecture), and runs on the open Observatory Protocol.
Plan with usArchitectureThe protocol- Technologies
- 9
- At the frontier
- 1
- Protocol functions
- 3 of 8
- Industries served
- 8
Reference design, drawn to scale · drag to turn · hover a part
01What it is
Edge tiers and multi-access edge computing.
Compute placed where data is produced and decisions are needed: the device, far, near and regional edge tiers, multi-access edge computing, modular edge data centres including the AI tower in a box, servers and accelerators, storage, power and cooling, ruggedisation, fleet orchestration, OTA and GitOps, and the hardware trust that makes remote sites safe to run. Each technology below carries what it is, what we do with it, and the standard it is drawn against.
Compute and edge
Far edge
Servers at cell sites, towers and customer premises that host DUs, local breakout and latency-critical apps.
We design, integrate, deploy, operate and maintain.
ETSI GS MEC 003 (framework and reference architecture) · O-RAN WG6 Cloud Architecture and Deployment Scenarios
Compute and edge
Near edge
Aggregation sites and central offices serving a town or district with shared compute and CU/core functions.
We design, integrate, deploy and operate.
ETSI GS MEC 003 · GSMA OPG.02 (Operator Platform telco edge requirements)
Compute and edge
Regional edge
Metro and regional data centres that host heavier AI, storage and core functions for a province or region.
We design, integrate and operate.
EN 50600 (data centre facilities and infrastructures) · ANSI/TIA-942
Compute and edge
MEC application enablement
Platform services that let applications register, discover services and receive traffic rules at the edge.
We design, integrate and operate.
ETSI GS MEC 011 (edge platform application enablement) · 3GPP TS 23.558 (EDGEAPP)
Compute and edge
MEC service APIs
Radio network information, location and other APIs that let edge apps adapt to network conditions.
We design and integrate.
ETSI GS MEC 012 (radio network information API) · ETSI GS MEC 013 (location API)
Compute and edge
Application mobility and edge federation
Moving app state between edge sites as users move, and sharing edge capacity across operators.
We design and integrate.
ETSI GS MEC 021 (application mobility service API) · GSMA OPG.02
Frontier · Compute and edge
Edge-cloud continuum
Placing each workload at the device, edge or cloud tier by latency, cost, energy and data rules, and moving it when conditions change.
We design, integrate and operate.
3GPP TS 23.548 (5GC enhancements for edge computing) · ETSI GS MEC 003
Compute and edge
Data residency and jurisdiction controls
Policy controls that keep data processed and stored in the locations a contract or law requires.
We design and operate.
ISO/IEC 27701 (privacy information management) · PIPEDA (Canada)
02Architecture
Where it sits, and what it speaks.
AI tower draws on 2 domains and 16 layers of the spectrum; the highlighted layers carry this area. It speaks 3 of the protocol’s 8 core functions.
Edge tiers and multi-access edge computing
9
Modular edge data centres and the AI tower in a box
8
Servers and accelerators
8
Storage and edge data management
6
Cooling and ruggedisation
10
Kubernetes and fleet orchestration
8
OTA updates, GitOps and software supply chain
8
Confidential computing and hardware trust
8
Edge inference, model serving and optimisation
10
Foundation models for Earth observation and geospatial
9
Time-series and sensor AI
8
Multimodal fusion and agentic operations
7
Federated and privacy-preserving learning
7
Physical AI and robotics (within red lines)
7
MLOps
7
Evaluation, model risk and AI governance
10
01JoinIdentity, attestation quote, signed policy.
02AdmitAdmitted for a stated scope, nothing wider.
03DescribeWhat, where, how and by whom, with calibration.
04TimeOne clock across the grid, with its error bound.
05ObserveEvery value with quality and provenance.
06QualifyTested against the specification, state on record.
07FederateSigned exchange across grids and trust domains.
08OrchestrateSoftware and configuration by signed plan.
03On the grid
Every site joins one observing grid.
The open networks on the grid today, over real relief and the geodesic cells we count them into. A site built here enrols into the same grid.
04In the field
Where this runs, sector by sector.
5 deployment scenarios from the sector research that rely on AI tower.
EducationState or provincial mesonet run by a university
Dense tower networks funded after disasters and by state budgets.Government and public safetyWildfire camera network and fire-weather stations
Camera towers with edge inference and co-located fire-weather stations, utility- or agency-funded.IndustrialUtility private LTE for the grid edge
Distribution automation, distributed-energy control and wildfire-risk weather on a dedicated band.AgricultureFarm or cooperative agromet network with crop models
Compact stations and soil probes feeding irrigation, disease and frost models.EnergyUtility grid-edge private LTE
See industrial.05Open and enterprise
Open by default. Enterprise by contract.
The open counterpart lives on the main site for anyone to read and run. The enterprise service is designed, deployed and operated with you, under contract.
Open, on the main site
- Class assumptions
- Power and thermal methods
Enterprise, on this site
- MEC deployment
- Edge AI sites
06The rest of the line
Edge compute & AI, area by area.
Edge compute & AIMEC
Applications one hop from the radio.Edge compute & AIEdge AI
Inference on the stream, not the archive.Edge compute & AIScientific compute
Run the model where the data lands.Edge compute & AIPhysical AI
Drones and robots, inside published red lines.Bring us the site.
Survey, design, deployment and operation for AI tower. The form names who receives your details.
Talk to uscontact@observatory.global