An Empirical Study of Propagation Models for Wireless Communications in Open-Pit Mines

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the suitability of the propagation models ITU-R 526, Okumura Hata, COST Hata models and Standard Propagation Model (SPM) to predict the path loss in open-pit mines. The models are evaluated by comparing the predicted data with measurements obtained in two operational iron-ore mining complexes in Brazil. Additionally, a simple deterministic model, based on the inclusion of an effective antenna height term to the ITU-R 526, is proposed and compared to the other methods. The results show that the proposed model results in root-mean-square error (RMSE) values between 5.5 dB and 9.2 dB, and it is capable of providing a close approximation of the best predictions (i.e. those with lowest RMSE) as provided by the SPM. The proposed model, however, reduces the calibration complexity considerably.

Deployment Strategies for the Industrial IoT: A Case Study Based on Surface Mines

“…The simulation considers the model proposed in [8], where the path loss is defined as a function of the free space path loss, a diffraction loss component, an effective height component and a calibration constant, k. In these simulations, this constant was adjusted based on the measurements collected in the same mine used as an example in Section II.…”

“…Vale model [8], with k = 3 for macro cells, and k = 7 for small cells Resource Allocation II. In year 1, no autonomous equipment was present; therefore, we assume that the requirements for each one of the 46 users are: 32 kbps in the DL and UL.…”

“…where P T X l is the transmit power of the serving cell, G T X l,n is the antenna gain in the direction of the n th user, G RX is the receiving antenna gain and P L l,n is the path loss [8]. The power of interference is calculated in a similar way:…”

“…In Section II, we discuss the impact of topographic variation in the performance of the wireless network over 10 years. The simulation assumptions are discussed in Section III, and include a dedicated propagation model [8] derived from extensive in situ measurement campaigns. Section IV presents the performance evaluation of well-known urban wireless network deployment strategies for urban scenarios, and discusses their suitability to the mining environment and their implications in terms of performance outage.…”

A New GIS-Based Algorithm to Support Initial Transmitter Layout Design in Open-Pit Mines

“…Various methods have been proposed to aid the design of wireless communications systems in open-pit mines [22,23] and involve the selection of appropriate frequency bands for mining applications, such as equipment monitoring, voice communications, and data exchange. Furthermore, studies have been conducted to develop propagation models for wireless communication network planning in open-pit mines [24][25][26][27]. In addition, many commercial applications have been developed for this purpose, including Masterlink ® by Modular Mining and IMPACT ® by Mine Site Technologies, which provide wireless communications system planning functions such as initial site assessment, communications system design, hardware installation, and support and maintenance monitoring [28,29].…”