Time domain channel sounder for underground mine applications

地下采矿中高效可靠的无线通信经历了快速发展，并正在改变采矿业的安全性，安全性和生产率。在这一领域，无线通信用于通过语音和视频传输建立从矿井内部到地面站的连接，远程控制机械，并跟踪人员和危险材料。这些通信系统必须能够最大化高数据速率，以便不同的应用和服务可以使用相同的带宽。近年来，无线身体网络（WBAN）技术已经成为一种致力于工业、娱乐、体育、医疗和采矿领域的有前途的通信方案。收集重要的身体参数和运动的数据，并使用无线通信技术将其传送到命令站。事实上，在表征和建模无线电传播时，隧道壁的形状、结构以及隧道沿着内部物体（例如矿工和机械）的尺寸至关重要。此外，人体具有复杂的形状和不同的组织，每个组织具有不同的电导率，对信号的统计有显著的影响。因此，天线类型的选择对于发射功率受限的系统尤其重要。因此，本研究计划的目的是设计一个有效的WBAN无线通信系统在地下矿山。在这种情况下，毫米波WBAN信道性能的表征、建模和评估将根据信道脉冲响应（CIR）、增益和平均频谱效率进行。为了实现这一目标，我们建议建立一个时域信道探测器，将支持这一领域的研究。因此，几个传播参数，如路径损耗，快衰落特性，多普勒功率谱，RMS多普勒扩展，和容量可以测量，以评估其对传输可靠性和延迟的影响。因此，我们请求提供资金，用于购买一台示波器（用作接收器），以便对地下矿井中毫米波段的动态无线电信道进行测量和建模。这款时域信道探测器基于射频发生器和示波器，可在快速变化的环境（如地下矿井）下进行测量。

Efficient and reliable wireless communication in underground mining has experienced rapid development and is changing the mining industry in terms of safety, security and productivity. In this area, wireless communication is used to establish connections from inside mines to ground stations through voice and video transmission, control machinery remotely, and track down people and hazardous materials. These communication systems must be able to maximize high data rates so that different applications and services can use the same bandwidth. Recently, Wireless Body Network (WBAN) technology has emerged as a promising communication scheme dedicated to industrial, entertainment, sport, medical and mining fields. Data of vital body parameters and movements are collected and communicated using wireless communication techniques to a command station. In fact, the shape, the structure of the walls and the dimensions of the tunnel along with the objects inside (such as miners and machinery) are of vital importance when characterizing and modeling radio propagation. In addition, the human body with its complex shape and different tissues, each with a different permittivity-conductivity, has a significant effect on the statistics of the signal. Therefore, the choice of the type of antenna is particularly important for systems, where transmit power is limited. Hence, the aim of this research program is the design of an efficient WBAN wireless communication system in underground mines. In this context, the characterization, modeling, and evaluation of the performance of mmWave WBAN channels will be performed in terms of channel impulse response (CIR), gain, and average spectral efficiency. To achieve this goal, we propose to build a time domain channel sounder that will support this area of research. As a result, several propagation parameters such as path loss, fast-fading characteristics, Doppler power spectrum, RMS Doppler spread, and capacity could be measured to evaluate their impact on transmission reliability and latency. We thus request funds to purchase an oscilloscope (to be used as a receiver) in order to perform measurements for the characterization and modeling of the dynamic radio channels in the mm-wave bands in underground mines. This time-domain channel sounder, which is based on the RF generator and the oscilloscope, enables measurements under fast-varying environments such as underground mines.