5G Radio Channel Characterization in an Underground Mining Environment

The development and usage of wireless commu-nication systems in underground mines are essential for the digitalization of the mining industry. The 5G systems have been widely deployed at frequency range 1 (FR1) below 6 GHz as terrestrial networks. The first 5G network installations have been done for underground mines but the optimized 5G network planning in the mine requires a specific understanding of the radio propagation characteristics of the mine tunnels. This paper provides radio channel measurement results for 5G FR1 and FR2 bands from the underground mine tunnels of Sandvik's test mine. In a cross-section scenario, the 5G signal travels up to 18 meters from the main tunnel to the side tunnel at FR1, but only 6 meters at FR2. The signal blocking in different scoop positions of the loader at FR1 was measured, and the topmost position attenuates the signal by 10 to 15 dB.