MRAM : A Multi-Radio Mesh With Adaptive Radio Silence for Resilient Communication

First responder and mission-critical IoT applications require infrastructure-less, energy-efficient ad-hoc networks. We present MRAM, a custom handheld platform featuring a multi-radio mesh system that integrates long-range Wi-Fi and HaLow technologies. MRAM leverages the B.A.T.M.A.N. advanced protocol with multi-radio extensions for intelligent link selection, radio aggregation, and full-duplex operation. Real-world urban evaluations demonstrate reliable voice and video performance, achieving up to 1.2 km line-of-sight and 2 km non-line-of-sight coverage over single and multi-hop links, consistently outperforming single-radio systems. The system dynamically adapts to varying link conditions, node density, and mobility patterns, ensuring robust and fault-tolerant mesh connectivity. Complementary Mininet-WiFi simulations validate the MRAM decision engine, yielding 2–3× throughput gains and 20–30 ms latency reductions across diverse mesh topologies. Experimental results with up to 10 nodes confirm the scalability of the MRAM platform under increasing mesh size and asymmetric link conditions. Additionally, the platform’s radio silence intelligence extends per-node battery life by up to 75% and doubles overall mesh lifetime, as confirmed by energy modeling. Dynamic activation of radios and relay nodes ensures energy-aware operation at scale, further enhancing resilience in power-constrained scenarios. These results establish MRAM as a resilient, energy-efficient solution for next-generation field-critical IoT deployments.