China Telecom and Huawei have launched a 5G one number converged private network, with the solution seeing commercial use as it has been deployed in the Sandaogou coal mine in Yulin.
The mining industry is plagued with inefficient aboveground and underground communications, with fixed-line phones or trunking calls being the standard means of communications. In case of issues arising and miners needing to communicate, the only option was to use a phone in a fixed location, and miners could not communicate with above ground colleagues in real time.
The solution deployed by Huawei and China Telecom harnesses the power of IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) to provide Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Voice over New Radio (VoNR) capabilities, enabling 4G/5G convergent audio and video calls. The solution meets the requirements of the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
As the system is deployed, miners can communicate with each other underground using their own SIM cards or phone numbers. This vastly improves efficiency and safety, ensuring that miners can keep in touch with the outside world and aboveground teams at any time.
In addition to allowing wider spread voice calls, one of the most significant advantages of the network is its capacity to connect with the mines dispatching system, which manages operations such as equipment allocation, refuelling, and monitoring equipment downtime.
The integration allows for real-time task scheduling from the surface, which unlocks possibilities for smart mining applications.
5G data access can accommodate a range of IoT devices that demand high bandwidth and low latency, such as real-time cameras, sensors, coal shearers, smart mine lamps, smartphones, excavators, and inspection robots.
Employing this technology can expand data collection possibilities in coal mines. Combined with solutions such as robotics and augmented reality, it can help automate mining operations which leads to improved safety and efficiency while reducing environmental impact.
At Mobile World Congress Shanghai this year, Huawei announced their vision for 5.5G, which will build on 5G technology by incorporating 5.5G, F5.5G and Net5.5G solutions. Huawei said this will further boost IoT possibilities and refresh the industry vision by using new technologies to unlock a market of 100 billion IoT connections.
