Mining companies are becoming increasingly dependent on reliable connectivity to increase worker safety, sustainability, automation and business efficiency. In a demanding mining environment Wi-Fi alone is not sufficient for connecting autonomous trucks and drills, and thousands of IoT sensors tracking equipment data, monitoring soil and air quality, water levels, waste piles and energy use. Data must flow uninterrupted around the site, across the supply and logistics chain, and from/to many stakeholders. In hyper-connected, modern mines, operators and decision makers can access operational (OT) data to optimize processes and make progress on ESG initiatives as they strive to increase output to meet soaring global demand.

The benefits can only be achieved through a combination of industrial-grade connectivity and on-site edge capabilities as mission-critical mining use cases depend on real-time processing, which requires reliable, high-capacity connectivity and full coverage. Often, mining companies rely on disparate multi-connectivity layers. And typically, mining occurs in harsh and remote environments. 

As a first mover, Wi-Fi was adopted in many mines, but not only does it struggle with coverage, it also cannot keep up with the increasing level of automation, placing higher pressure on bandwidth and connectivity. When companies move to 4G / 5G, they need to squeeze every last dime from their Wi-Fi investments and continue to meet the insatiable demand of data with high throughput and low latency. 

Mining connectivity – a unique set of challenges

Remote locations with harsh conditions made up of extreme temperatures, dust, moisture, gases and blasts have long been a barrier to connecting workers and machines. As companies begin automating operations, huge trucks, drills and other industrial equipment must remain connected, even when the harsh terrain, long underground passages and drilling vibrations work against that.

Highly reliable connectivity is vital for the constant flow of data that enables autonomous and predictable operations. The stability and movement of vehicles, equipment and people must be trackable above and below ground. For advanced Industry 4.0 worker safety solutions OT data must be processed and made available in real time. 

The power of wireless and Wi-Fi connectivity at the device level

While some companies believe Wi-Fi is sufficient to serve existing needs, as more vehicles, sensors, cameras, drills, trucks and other machines are connected, even the latest evolution of Wi-Fi 7 will be unable to keep up with the increased bandwidth and latency demands in a highly dynamic environment with many moving assets. Handover delays between access points, instability near blasting activity and other areas of the site will cause machines and vehicles to disconnect from the network, reducing operational efficiency and impacting worker safety. 

This has led to a growing number of companies implementing deterministic 4G and 5G private wireless connectivity. To ensure they can continue to leverage Wi-Fi as a critical component of their operations, we developed MX Boost. This combines all available spectrum and multiple technology layers for even greater predictability and reliability. And to simplify the adoption of MX Boost for mine operators and other industrial enterprises, we’ve incorporated multiple connectivity options at the device level into our Industrial 5G fieldrouters. They facilitate simultaneous connections to two 4G/5G networks (e.g. private wireless or public) and two Wi-Fi access points available to mining equipment. MX Boost steps in to satisfy the connectivity needs of devices. Depending on the operating mode, MX Boost brings seamless handovers, even on Wi-Fi, for autonomous vehicles traversing the premises. It maximizes capacity, combining Wi-Fi with Private wireless, to stream data from multiple demanding applications in real time, such as video-based quality monitoring or remote control, and finally enhanced reliability for mission-critical operations such as worker safety.

Nokia Industrial fieldrouter FRRO505: created for mines and other industrial environments

Boosting connectivity is just one way that the outdoor, ruggedized 5G fieldrouter FRRO505 meets growing demands within a multi-layered connectivity environment at a mine, port, or other industrial site. A hardened aluminum enclosure, M12 connectors, and IP67 and enhanced corrosion protection ensures it withstands the most extreme temperatures and is protected from dust and water exposure. Vibration protection further enhances connectivity reliability, while dual power options provide redundancy for continuous operation.

Embedded sensor and processing capabilities 

Underground and outdoor asset geo-tracking is made possible through the aggregation of GNSS, RTK and Bluetooth proximity tracking. Additionally, data from embedded accelerometers, gyroscopes and environmental sensors can be utilized for insights into industrial devices and processes.

For example, real-time acceleration data from autonomous vehicles can be used to optimize fuel consumption, vibration data to recalibrate drills for operational precision and exact location data to prevent collisions in the field.  

Sensor-router software capabilities enable data to be streamed from embedded sensors to feed solutions such as MX Context. A unique solution equipped with sensor fusion technology and AI inferencing engines, it creates real-time contextual awareness to drive AI-driven insights, and predictions for various Industry 4.0 use cases.

Adding an optional GPU (graphical processing unit), the FRRO505 fieldrouter can also provide far edge compute capabilities and can be configured as an MX Grid, micro-edge device enabling OT data processing next to the data source for even lower latency. Working alongside Nokia MX Industrial Edge, MX Grid can support advanced mining use cases such as real-time remote anomaly detection.

Seamless integration and management within the hybrid mine 

Nokia Industrial outdoor 5G fieldrouters offer critical connectivity at the device level to meet the growing demands of mining customers. They are purpose-built to maximize uptime and deliver redundancy in the harshest industrial environments, when all the elements are working against them. Even setup and management are simplified through Nokia Industrial device management, which enables remote management, zero-touch provisioning and bulk configuration of all industrial devices. And like all Nokia Industrial devices, the routers feed data about network anomalies to Nokia Network Digital Twin for predictive actions.

By seamlessly integrating in and optimizing a hybrid environment, Nokia Industrial 5G fieldrouters reduce the connectivity footprint at mines and other industrial sites. Enterprises can reduce their TCO, leverage their existing investments and take advantage of dedicated capabilities at the device level, to serve their ever-evolving digitalization needs.