--- title: "Architecture: Design and integration | Nexus Observatory" description: "Reference architecture of the Design and integration platform: six layers, the protocol functions it relies on and the evidence behind every observation." url: https://observatory.global/integration/architecture/ publisher: Nexus Observatory Inc. updated: 2026-11-07 --- [Nexus Observatory](https://observatory.global/) / [Design and integration](https://observatory.global/integration/) / **Architecture** # How design and integration is built. One reference architecture under every deployment: the layers of a site, the protocol functions this platform relies on, and the evidence that travels with every observation. [Plan with us](https://observatory.global/integration/contact/deployment/) [Industries](https://observatory.global/integration/industries/) Areas · **5** Technologies · **190** Industries · **4** At a glance ## Core security and resilience In Design and integration, the core security and resilience layer holds 5G security architecture, security assurance of network products and zero trust architecture, each drawn against the standard it follows. Authentication, key hierarchy, subscriber privacy and interface protection across the 5G system. The problem ### One accountable integrator, site to grid This page shows how Design and integration is put together, layer by layer, from the instrument to the record. System design against the reference architecture, engineering packs a contractor can build from, multi-vendor integration on typed interfaces, and programme delivery across many sites with one plan, one schedule and one evidence record. Components - Pole-mounted edge gateway node - Overhead line sensor on a distribution span - Automatic weather station (AWS) to WMO siting practice - Distribution pole transformer and meter cabinet - Private LTE mast on a solar skid - "AI tower in a box" - Data hall row pair with cold-aisle containment - Operations console with a video wall Interfaces **Instruments**: SDI-12 · RS-485 / Modbus RTU · 4–20 mA **Radio**: Ethernet · LTE-M / NB-IoT · LoRaWAN **Time and position**: GNSS 1PPS **Security**: TPM 2.0 **Publishing**: MQTT Where it works - IMS, voice and mission-critical services - Network slicing, edge UPF and local breakout - Network automation and intent In the story below 1. The system, part by part 2. Assembly 3. Installation 4. Deployment 5. Connections 6. Operation 7. Failure and recovery 8. Scale and federation 9. What you get Scenes · 13 Next steps [Plan a deployment](https://observatory.global/integration/contact/deployment/) [Open the Field Deployment Studio](https://observatory.global/studio/) [See Design and integration](https://observatory.global/integration/) 1. Design and integration · Architecture One accountable integrator, site to grid This page shows how Design and integration is put together, layer by layer, from the instrument to the record. System design against the reference architecture, engineering packs a contractor can build from, multi-vendor integration on typed interfaces, and programme delivery across many sites with one plan, one schedule and one evidence record. 2. Architecture · Core and transport networks Core security and resilience In Design and integration, the core security and resilience layer holds 5G security architecture, security assurance of network products and zero trust architecture, each drawn against the standard it follows. Authentication, key hierarchy, subscriber privacy and interface protection across the 5G system. 3. Architecture · Core and transport networks IMS, voice and mission-critical services In Design and integration, the IMS, voice and mission-critical services layer holds IMS core, voice over NR and voice over LTE and emergency calling and next-generation 9-1-1, each drawn against the standard it follows. SIP session control for voice, video and messaging on IP networks. 4. Architecture · Core and transport networks 5G core functions In Design and integration, the 5G core functions layer holds access and mobility management, session management and user plane function and N4, each drawn against the standard it follows. Registration, connection and mobility handling for every device attached to the network. 5. Architecture · Core and transport networks Network slicing, edge UPF and local breakout In Design and integration, the network slicing, edge UPF and local breakout layer holds slice selection and identifiers, slice management and orchestration and slice templates, each drawn against the standard it follows. S-NSSAI and slice selection that place each device and service on the right logical network. 6. Architecture · Core and transport networks IP/MPLS, segment routing, SD-WAN and IPv6 In Design and integration, the IP/MPLS, segment routing, SD-WAN and IPv6 layer holds MPLS and VPN services, segment routing over MPLS and SRv6, each drawn against the standard it follows. Label switching and L2/L3 VPNs that separate customer and network traffic. 7. Architecture · Power, energy and ruggedisation Generation In Design and integration, the generation layer holds solar PV modules, PV array design and MPPT charge controllers and converters, each drawn against the standard it follows. Module design qualification and safety for decades outdoors, including snow, hail and heat. 8. Architecture · Core and transport networks Fibre and optical transport In Design and integration, the fibre and optical transport layer holds single-mode fibre plant, passive optical networks and DWDM and ROADM networks, each drawn against the standard it follows. Standard and bend-insensitive fibre for long-haul, metro and access. GPON, XGS-PON and 50G-PON for access, enterprise and small-cell backhaul. 9. Architecture · Core and transport networks Network automation and intent In Design and integration, the network automation and intent layer holds model-driven management, streaming telemetry and flow export and intent-based management, each drawn against the standard it follows. YANG models with NETCONF and RESTCONF for repeatable, machine-checked configuration. Push-based state and flow data that replace slow polling. 10. Updates Updates in rings, with rollback Software for Design and integration is released in rings, so a fault shows on one canary site long before it could reach the whole fleet. A ring for Design and integration goes ahead only on health and data completeness, and a failed gate rolls each node back without anyone travelling to site. 11. Architecture · Core and transport networks Fronthaul, midhaul and backhaul In Design and integration, the fronthaul, midhaul and backhaul layer holds transport requirements for 5G xhaul, carrier Ethernet mobile backhaul and licensed microwave, each drawn against the standard it follows. Capacity, latency and sync requirements for each segment between radio and core. 12. What you get Open where it can be, contracted where it must be What is open for Design and integration is free: the protocol, the methods and the open data can be used and built on by anyone. What must be contracted for Design and integration, sites, fleets, managed operations and data tiers, Nexus Observatory Inc. delivers at a price per site and per fleet, with service levels in numbers. 13. Next step Design and integration, planned with you Tell us which layers of Design and integration you already run and which you want us to design and deliver. An engineer replies with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for Design and integration, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need. [Plan a deployment](https://observatory.global/integration/contact/deployment/) [Open the Field Deployment Studio](https://observatory.global/studio/) [See Design and integration](https://observatory.global/integration/) More presentations ## See it from every side. Each opens as a full-screen presentation: deeper pages on the same subject, explainers, stories, guided tours of the places, network scenes and the observatories that came before. [All presentations](https://observatory.global/presentations/) ### In depth [ISIC section · ISIC Q **Human health and social work activities**](https://observatory.global/industries/q-human-health-and-social-work-activities/) [ISIC section · ISIC O **Public administration and defence; compulsory social security**](https://observatory.global/industries/o-public-administration-and-defence-compulsory-social-security/) [Use case **Street flood observatory**](https://observatory.global/use-cases/street-flood/) [Use case **Utility grid-edge private LTE and wildfire weather**](https://observatory.global/use-cases/utility-grid-edge/) ### Explainers [Explainer · Government and public safety **Government and public safety** Wildfire cameras on real terrain, GBON station density, street-flood alert thresholds, CAP alerting with the authority in the loop and the radio horizon of a deployable cell.](https://observatory.global/industries/public-safety/explainer/) [Explainer · Industrial **Industrial** Blast vibration at the pit, fire weather at the grid edge, methane at the fenceline and tailings movement from GNSS.](https://observatory.global/industries/infrastructure/explainer/) [Platform **Design and integration** Many suppliers, nobody accountable](https://observatory.global/integration/) [Platform **Field services** Sites fail between contractors](https://observatory.global/field-services/) ### Stories [Story · Federation across agencies **Many agencies, one picture** No single agency observes everything it needs. Federation lets each keep its own systems and still share: common interfaces, common catalogues and common…](https://observatory.global/stories/federation/) [Story · Resilient operations **When the links fail** Observing systems matter most on the days infrastructure fails. Designing for that day means local autonomy, stored power, store-and-forward delivery and…](https://observatory.global/stories/resilient-ops/) [Story · Airspace and drones **A shared sky below 120 metres** Flying beyond visual line of sight turns a drone from a camera on a stick into infrastructure. It needs a command link that holds, an identity others can…](https://observatory.global/stories/airspace-drones/) ### Places and networks [Guided tour · Guided 3D tour **Ground station** An 11 m class antenna and its companions on a fenced pad, with edge compute that turns each pass into catalogued products before the next one.](https://observatory.global/environments/ground-station/) [Guided tour · Guided 3D tour **River basin** Water-level gauges along a river valley floor, a weather station and an edge node: the red isoline is the ground that lies within a few metres of the lowest point of the reach.](https://observatory.global/environments/river-basin/) [Guided tour · Guided 3D tour **Wildfire forest** Camera masts on the ridges, a weather station in the stand and a private cell: the red ground is what the ridge camera can see.](https://observatory.global/environments/wildfire-forest/) [Network scene · NTN · Satellite **Satellite direct to device in a mountain valley** Where the valley cell cannot reach, phones on the pass road connect straight to a low-orbit satellite, which relays through its feeder link to a gateway.](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/ntn-d2d/) [Network scene · Backhaul · Fresnel zone **Microwave backhaul across a river valley** An 18 GHz hop from the church tower to a mast on the far side of the flood plain: its first Fresnel zone, clearance over the town and trees, and what a new building in the path…](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/backhaul-fresnel/) ### Heritage observatories [Heritage observatory · United States · 1961 **World-Wide Standardized Seismograph Network** In the early 1960s the United States put identical seismographs, calibrated the same way, in more than a hundred places around the world and published the records on film for…](https://observatory.global/observatories/wwssn/) [Heritage observatory · Global network of about 150 stations; USGS and EarthScope (formerly IRIS) partnership · 1984 **Global Seismographic Network** About 150 digital broadband seismic stations in some 80 countries, sending data to open archives within minutes.](https://observatory.global/observatories/iris-gsn/) ### Interactive tools [Interactive tool · Plan a site **Field Deployment Studio** Terrain, devices, coverage, viewshed, power and the best spot for a station, then a deployment request with the plan attached.](https://observatory.global/studio/) **01** Reference architecture ## From one instrument to the grid. Every deployment is drawn on the same six layers. A typed contract sits at every boundary, so parts from different makers fit together. 1. **01** **Instrument** The sensor or radio that makes the measurement, with its calibration. 2. **02** **Node** The device that hosts instruments: identity, time, power and storage. 3. **03** **Site** Nodes in one place, on one mast or in one shelter, with their links. 4. **04** **Cell** Sites that share a backhaul, a power plan and an operator. 5. **05** **Cluster** Cells run as one service, with one fleet plan and one evidence trail. 6. **06** **Grid** Clusters that federate across owners through the open protocol. [**01** **Join** Identity, attestation quote, signed policy.](https://observatory.global/protocol/functions/) [**02** **Admit** Admitted for a stated scope, nothing wider.](https://observatory.global/protocol/functions/) [**03** **Describe** What, where, how and by whom, with calibration.](https://observatory.global/protocol/functions/) [**04** **Time** One clock across the grid, with its error bound.](https://observatory.global/protocol/functions/) [**05** **Observe** Every value with quality and provenance.](https://observatory.global/protocol/functions/) [**06** **Qualify** Tested against the specification, state on record.](https://observatory.global/protocol/functions/) [**07** **Federate** Signed exchange across grids and trust domains.](https://observatory.global/protocol/functions/) [**08** **Orchestrate** Software and configuration by signed plan.](https://observatory.global/protocol/functions/) [**09** **Correct** A correction marks what depends on it and publishes a new version.](https://observatory.global/protocol/functions/) [**10** **Exchange** Products reach people and applications through versioned interfaces.](https://observatory.global/protocol/functions/) [**11** **Prove** Signed proof receipts that an independent verifier can check.](https://observatory.global/protocol/functions/) [**12** **Exit and decommission** An open exit path, and a record that closes.](https://observatory.global/protocol/functions/) The protocol functions this platform relies on most. **02** Trust and evidence ## Every observation carries its proof. What a buyer, a regulator or a partner grid can check, on every site we build. Evidence ### Identity and attestation Hardware-rooted identity, with a quote checked at every join. Evidence ### Segmentation Least privilege between nodes, tenants and sites. Evidence ### Time integrity Every clock monitored, every holdover logged. Evidence ### Evidence bundles What was done, by whom, with what result. Evidence ### Qualification state Each device and release, with the tests behind it. Evidence ### Signed plans Software and configuration change only by a signed plan. **03** Read further ## The open specification behind it. [Observatory Protocol Specification Functions, state machines, objects and flows. Read →](https://observatory.global/protocol/specification/) [Observatory Protocol Reference designs Nodes and sites drawn to the protocol. Read →](https://observatory.global/protocol/reference-designs/) [Observatory Protocol Conformance Run the suite against an implementation. Read →](https://observatory.global/protocol/conformance/) **04** On this site ## Where to go next. [Design and integration Areas Every area, with its systems and standards. Open →](https://observatory.global/integration/areas/) [Design and integration Technologies The layered map of what we build with. Open →](https://observatory.global/integration/technologies/) [Design and integration Industries The industry sites built on this platform. Open →](https://observatory.global/integration/industries/) [Design and integration Resources Explainer, stories, specification and forms. Open →](https://observatory.global/integration/resources/) ## Bring us the site. We bring the survey, the design and the crew. The form names who receives your details. [Plan a deployment](https://observatory.global/integration/contact/deployment/) [Contact](https://observatory.global/integration/contact/) [Nexus Observatory](https://observatory.global/) **Design and integration** . One accountable integrator, site to grid. 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