Communication architecture for Remote Monitoring and Diagnostics in Open Pit Mine

In this paper, we provide the requirements and analysis for the selection of adequate communication infrastructure in managing Remote Monitoring and Diagnostics (RMD) applications in Open Pit Mine (OPM) environments. We have surveyed several different real world mine environments in order to obtain common physical characteristics of the mine. We discuss the significance of evaluating the physical, structural and operational challenges of an Open Pit Mine environment before selecting any suitable communication architecture. Based on the evaluation of the mine environment along with the Remote Monitoring and Diagnostics application service requirements, we recommend feasible wireless infrastructure solutions that can handle day-to-day challenges with improved efficiency. Finally, considering the inevitable expansion of mine territory, we provide recommendations for future Remote Monitoring and Diagnostics mine automation systems as well.