MIMO-UWB Channel Characterization Within an Underground Mine Gallery

Multiple input multiple output-ultrawide band (MIMO-UWB) systems are experimentally evaluated for underground mine high-speed radio communications. Measurement campaigns using two different antenna configurations have been made in an underground gold mine. Furthermore, two scenarios, which are the line of sight (LoS) and the non-LoS (NLoS), i.e., taking into account the mining machinery effect, are distinguished and studied separately. In fact, the channel is characterized in terms of coherence bandwidth, path loss, shadowing, channel correlation, and capacity. Results reveal how antenna array configuration affects main channel parameters and suggest that mining machinery presence substantially affects both received power and time dispersion parameters within the underground mine and should, therefore, be considered when assessing the performance of in-gallery wireless systems. Moreover, it is shown that the MIMO-UWB takes benefit of the large spreading bandwidth and the multipath propagation environment to increase the channel capacity.