POLYTECHNIQUE – 30/08/2023

AMBRA SOLUTIONS
CONNECTING MINES

Éric L’Heureux
President, CEO and Founder
Ambra Solutions
 Never hesitate to :
Participate and interact
Ask questions
Give feedback
during the training!
CONTENT OF THE SESSION

Who is Ambra?
Technologies used in mining
• VHF / UHF
• Wi-Fi / Mesh Wifi
• 4G / 5G
Equipment used in mining
Connected mine use cases
Ambra Solutions
CONNECTIVITY IN SMART MINING

Tailing
Autonomous
monitoring
haul truck

Trailer Monitored
freight

Open pit
mine

Transport Port
Fiber optic
backhaul
Plant

Underground Microwave
geopositioning backhaul
Remote-
controlled
equipment Headquarters

Underground
mine
Radio Frequency (RF)
spectrum
 LOW

Analogy in music: base

25Khz channels: voice
VHF: 150Mhz
Wavelength: 2000 meters
FREQUENCIES

25Khz channels: voice

UHF: 400Mhz
Wavelength: 749cm

10Mhz channels: voice+data

LTE: 800Mhz
Wavelength: 375cm

20Mhz channels: voice+data

LTE: 1900Mhz
Wavelength: 158cm

20Mhz channels: voice+data

Wi-Fi: 2400 Mhz Wavelength: 125cm

40Mhz channels: voice+data

Wi-Fi: 5800 Mhz
Wavelength: 5cm
HIGH

Analogy in music: high-pitched sound

RF Technologies used
in Mining
COMPARISON WITH OTHER WIRELESS
TECHNOLOGIES
WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES USED IN MINING

Point-to-Multipoint
UHF/VHF Wi-Fi Mesh Wi-Fi DOCSIS + Wi-Fi (open-pit mine only) 4G/5G
Range above 300-500 meters 500m-5km (with 5-20km (with omni
5-50km 300-500 meters 300-500 meters
ground directional antennas) directional antennas)
Several KM using Several KM Bi-
Range Several KM without
Bi-Directional 50-100 meters 50-100 meters Directional N/A
underground BDA
Amplifier (BDA) Amplifier (BDA)
Licensed Unlicensed Unlicensed Unlicensed Unlicensed Licensed
Frequency
(150Mhz, 400Mhz) (2.4,5.8Ghz) (2.4,5.8Ghz) (2.4,5.8Ghz) (5.2-5.8Ghz) (<2.5Ghz)
Proprietary mesh Open standard
Technology Proprietary Open standard Proprietary Open standard
protocol
Standard and Open standard
Clients Proprietary Open standard Proprietary Open standard
proprietary
Limited and Limited and Limited and Proprietary protocol Controlled by the
Based on signal
Mobility controlled by end controlled by end controlled by end controlled by end network. Support up
strength
devices devices devices devices to 350km/h
Data speed Voice only Symmetrical Symmetrical Asymetrical Symmetrical Asymetrical
Example Motorola, Cisco, Aruba, Arris, Cisco, Cambium,
Rajant, Cisco Ericsson, Nokia
Manufacturers Kenwood, Icom Ruckus, etc Motorola Redline, Radwin
STANDARDISATION

Source : Ericsson (November 2019)

WIRELESS PROTOCOL : Wi-Fi vs. LTE

Wi-Fi LTE Technology

Unlicensed band Licensed bands

• 900Mhz, 2.4Ghz, 5.8Ghz • 700Mhz, 850Mhz, 1900Mhz, 2100Mhz, 2500Mhz
• Subject to interference • Allow carrier aggregation
Lowest reliable RSSI: -85dbm • Interference free
Based on the 802.11 technology Lowest working RSSI: -115dBm
Latency increases as the network traffic increases Optimized for high number of devices (using radio
Time Division Duplex (TDD) blocks)
• Uses the same channel for uplink and Latency remains constant as the network traffic
downlink increases
Limited mobility (break before make) Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) & Time Division
Limited QoS capabilities Duplex (TDD)
Limited range resulting in excessive number of • Can use two channels for uplink and downlink
Aps to manage Full mobility up to 350Km/h
Superior end to end QoS capabilities natively
implemented in the standard.
4G/5G system overview
PHYSICAL vs. LOGICAL

Baseband
SPECTRUM
management
(MME/SGW)

Authentication
(HSS) LAN
Remote Baseband
radio unit unit (BBU) Internet
User
(RRU) Applications
Equipment
(UE)
IP networking
E-UTRAN Evolved UMTS (PGW)
Terrestrial Radio Access
Network (E-UTRAN)
Host server
AUTHENTICATION/ENCRYPTION
Control plane
User plane
MME HSS

Secured

LAN
USIM E-UTRAN SGW PGW Internet
UE Applications

Evolved Packet Core (EPC)

LTE Performance
 FDD LTE TYPICAL SPEEDS AND POWER

Downlink Speed 256QAM (Mbps) Uplink Speed (Mbps)

195.8
200 80 75

180
70
160 146.85
60 56.25
140
50
120 50
97.9 97.9
100 37.5 37.5
40
73.43
80
48.95 48.95 30 25
60
18.75
40 29.37 24.48 20
11.25 12.5
11.75 14.69
20 5.87 7.5
10 3 4.5
0
SISO 2x2 SISO 2x2 SISO 2x2 SISO 2x2 SISO 2x2 SISO 2x2 0
MIMO MIMO MIMO MIMO MIMO MIMO 16QAM 64QAM 16QAM 64QAM 16QAM 64QAM 16QAM 64QAM 16QAM 64QAM 16QAM 64QAM
1.4Mhz 3Mhz 5Mhz 10Mhz 15Mhz 20Mhz 1.4Mhz 3Mhz 5Mhz 10Mhz 15Mhz 20Mhz

One tele-remote equipment = 5-10Mbps of uplink data

TDD LTE TYPICAL SPEEDS AND POWER

Downlink config 1, Special Config 7, Uplink Config 1, Special Config 7

256QAM
32.4
35
TDD CONFIG 1

109.44 30
120 24.3
100 82.08 25 21.6
80 54.72 54.72 20 16.2 16.2
60 41.04
27.36 27.36 15 10.8
40 13.68 8.1
20 10 5.4
0 5
SISO 2x2 SISO 2x2 SISO 2x2 SISO 2x2 0
MIMO MIMO MIMO MIMO 16QAM 64QAM 16QAM 64QAM 16QAM 64QAM 16QAM 64QAM
5Mhz 10Mhz 15Mhz 20Mhz 5Mhz 10Mhz 15Mhz 20Mhz

Downlink config 2, Special Config 7, 256QAM Uplink Config 2, Special Config 7

149.76
TDD CONFIG 2

160 20 17.28
140 112.32 12.96
120 15 11.52
100 74.88 74.88 8.64 8.64
10
80 56.16 5.76
4.32
60 37.44 37.44 5 2.88
40 18.72
20 0
0 16QAM 64QAM 16QAM 64QAM 16QAM 64QAM 16QAM 64QAM
SISO 2x2 SISO 2x2 SISO 2x2 SISO 2x2
MIMO MIMO MIMO MIMO 5Mhz 10Mhz 15Mhz 20Mhz

5Mhz 10Mhz 15Mhz 20Mhz

Cables used in mining
RADIATING AND COAXIAL
COAXIAL CABLE

Cable loss vs. frequency

• Low frequency = long distance
Cable loss vs. Diameter
• ¼” diameter for jumpers
• ½” diameter
• 7/8” diameter
Cable impedance
• 50 ohms (LTE)
• 75 ohms (DOCSIS)
RADIATING CABLE

Cable loss vs. frequency

• Low frequency = long distance
Cable loss vs. Diameter
• ½” diameter
• 7/8” diameter
Cable impedance
• 50 ohms
Radiating method
• Not all cables are 360°
Underground tracking
CAPLAMP WITH TRACKING
TRACKING INTERFACES
Questions?
 POLYTECHNIQUE – 30/08/2023

Thank you!
We look forward to connecting with you.

www.ambra.co