Selection of data transmission technology for digital mine design

Abstract

The main objective of systematic efforts of mining enterprises in securing the safety of mining operations is not an abstract reduction in the workplace injury rates, but prevention of dangerous incidents through specific measures. At the current technological state, such measures can be reliably ensured through building a unified digital environment of a hazardous production facility. Implementation of the mine digitalization projects requires application of multi-service networks as a unified data transmission environment. The article discusses the requirements for such networks, the challenges of selecting the core technology, as well as advantages and disadvantages of existing solutions. Using the case of a Russian technical solution, it is shown why in terms of efficiency and cost the optimal technology to create reliable high-load multi-functional security and communication systems at mining enterprises is the industrial Wi-Fi networks. Modern modifications of the Wi-Fi standard make it possible to cover more and more technological possibilities, e.g. location detection, monitoring of objects behind walls, motion and gesture capture and recognition. The channel bandwidth is also growing. Every 2-3 years, new modifications of standards and, accordingly, equipment with their support are released. In 2024, a new Wi-Fi 7 standard (IEEE802.11be) is planned to be released, which allows to provide data transmission speeds of up to 46 Gbps, as well as the ability to use several access points in parallel, which increases the flexibility of the network, its load capacity and stability of the radio signal for connected client devices.