Wireless communication technology evolution in underground coal mines

Mine communication is an indispensable part of the intelligent development of coal mines. This paper analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of different communication systems and technologies in different development stages of wireless communication in underground coal mines. It is concluded that 5G and WiFi6 currently have significant technological advantages and good applicability in terms of transmission rate, delay, reliability, and user capacity. They are the mainstream solutions for mine wireless communication technology in recent years. This paper discusses the problems in underground wireless communication system construction and the corresponding development directions. ① Technological convergence issues. Different scenarios have different requirements for bandwidth, delay, power consumption and reliability. A single communication technology can not meet the requirements of all application scenarios in coal mines. It is necessary to select appropriate communication technology according to the actual application situation to meet the application requirements. Different technologies are integrated through protocol converters, gateways and other devices to form an integrated communication network platform for technological convergence above the ground and underground. ② System integration issues. Since each system is provided by different manufacturers, and the communication protocol and hardware interface are inconsistent, it is difficult to truly realize the data sharing of each system in the mine. It is necessary to provide standard interfaces, open network architecture, and unified user data to provide interconnection and inter-working functions for monitoring, emergency, production, and other systems. It is further required to provide unified data messages to enable data transmission with low delay, high concurrency, real-time, and synchronization within each system. ③ Device power consumption issues. The existing mine 5G base station and other equipment can only be made into a single flameproof product due to their high power consumption. The equipment is bulky, large, and difficult to install and maintain, which restricts the popularization of 5G technology in coal mine. Low-power design can be started from the main chip, RF module, and power amplifier module.