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On the Performance of Visible Light Communications in Underground Mines

Abstract:

Underground mining is an industry worldwide known for its hostile work environment; therefore, a proper communication system is essential to preserve the miners' safety and efficiency in their work. However, the irregular characteristics of the tunnels and the interference that occurs in underground mines (UM) makes it difficult to implement traditional communication systems, such as those based on radio frequency (RF). Therefore, a practical and viable solution is to complement RF systems with infrastructure based on visible light communication (VLC) systems. This emerging technology can provide robust communication and continuous lighting in harsh environments. Nevertheless, to date, specific VLC systems for UM have not been widely developed or studied, although there is extensive literature on VLC applications in other non-hostile environments. In this paper, a study on the special physical characteristics and external factors of UM that affect the performance of VLC systems applied to these environments is presented. Particular factors considered include orientation of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and photo-diodes (PDs), non-uniform walls, shadowing produced by heavy machinery, and scattering produced by dust particles. The impulse response of the optical UM channel and the received power distribution in the underground mining scenario are presented. Numerical results through simulations show and validate the adverse effect of the UM features on the VLC channel.