📡Resilient Comms
Architecture

The Resilience Stack

A layered approach to building redundant communication systems — from physical infrastructure to application protocols.

The Resilience Stack

A layered model for thinking about communication resilience — from the physical medium to the applications your team uses.

Communication Layers — Each layer must be independently resilient

Layer 1: Physical

The physical medium carries your signal. Options include:

  • Radio waves (HF, VHF, UHF) — no infrastructure required
  • Fiber / copper — high bandwidth, fragile
  • Satellite links — global reach, latency, cost
  • Optical (laser) — line-of-sight, high bandwidth

Resilience principle: Own your physical layer. If you don't control the wire or the frequency, you don't control the link.

Layer 2: Transport

How bits move between nodes:

  • Packet radio (AX.25) — slow but proven
  • LoRa / LoRaWAN — long range, low power
  • Mesh protocols (OLSR, BATMAN) — self-healing networks
  • Store-and-forward — tolerates intermittent connectivity

Layer 3: Network

Routing and addressing:

  • IP over radio — integrates with existing tools
  • Delay-tolerant networking (DTN) — designed for disconnected operation
  • Sneakernet — physical media transport (USB drives, SD cards)

Layer 4: Application

What your users actually interact with:

  • Voice — lowest bandwidth, highest immediacy
  • Text messaging — asynchronous, low bandwidth
  • Email / file transfer — higher bandwidth, tolerates delay
  • Encrypted messaging — security layer on top

Building Your Stack

Start Simple

Don't try to build all layers at once. Start with a reliable voice path (ham radio or GMRS), then add data capability as you grow.

A practical starting stack for a small team or household:

  1. Primary: Smartphone + cellular (existing)
  2. Secondary: GMRS or ham radio (local voice)
  3. Tertiary: HF radio or satellite messenger (long-range)
  4. Data backup: LoRa mesh for text messages