Effect of tunnel geometry and antenna parameters on through-the-air communication systems in underground mines: Survey and open research areas

In the mining industry, communication systems are important for ensuring personnel safety and optimizing the mining processes underground. The need for through-the-air (TTA) in the underground mining industry has been evolved from man-to-man, man-to-machine and machine-to-machine real-time voice, video and data transmission. Reliable communication has always been a challenge in the underground environment due to harsh and dynamic conditions. This article surveys the effect of tunnel geometry and antenna parameters on TTA communication system performance in underground mines. It provides a comprehensive review of measurement campaigns that have been published to date by systematic organization of literature. The open research areas for future investigation are also discussed. Finally, digital system's findings in the University of Witwatersrand (WITS) mock-mine are presented.