Requirements
Design and build a network to connect mobile mining equipment: Komatsu HD465/HD485, SANY and Caterpillar 740 haul trucks, as well as Komatsu PC2000 excavators. The network must transmit telemetry to the dispatch system and maintain connectivity while the equipment is moving.
Network requirements
- Coverage across challenging, changing terrain;
- Mobile client handover between base stations within 200 ms;
- Connectivity at distances of up to 2 km from a base station;
- A wireless uplink for remote nodes;
- Autonomous power for some base stations;
- Transport of client traffic across multiple L3 subnets.
Technical solution
The radio layer uses Ruckus T350SE access points supporting 802.11ax and mesh. Ruckus Unleashed provides management; traffic tunneling retains the required client subnet at remote locations. External omnidirectional antennas provide inter-node connectivity over the design distances.
Implementation considerations
The site is far from warehouses and service facilities, so the equipment and installation materials were checked before shipment. The design accounted for the inability to deliver missing items quickly and for changing installation conditions at an operating open-pit mine.
Results
The radio layer of an operational network was built to transmit telemetry and dispatch data from mobile equipment.