Multiplexed control systems always look good on paper. In some applications they have worked fairly well, but reliability ain't what it ought to be.
Remember what happened to some vehicle systems when the original "brick" cellular transceivers were installed too close to certain wire bundles..
With all the interference around these days even in low intensity areas Cat5 is pretty limited. Even as short run jumpers I was happily suprised at the reduction in error rate that we got when every last piece was done in Cat6. I'd pay that bill again without any hesitation now.
Whatever comes up in terms of control system/comm architectures will have to be non-proprietary to become a broadly used standard otherwise it will only gain acceptance in a small sector. There's the rub.
Tesla was a really interesting man. One of our guys built a couple of caduceus coils just for the fun of it. Very odd. Tesla may have been "out there" but I've looked through a number of his patents and am convinced that we lost someone that could have broadened the horizons of research in many areas for some time. Sad.