Release Date：2022-07-25  Author：By Liu Rui, He Guangming  Click：

In terms of intelligent mining, Caojiatan Coal Mine in China's Shaanxi Province has always been at the forefront of the industry. As a large-scale coal mine demonstration base developed in accordance with China's 12th Five-Year Plan, it has been rated as an excellent industrialization-informatization integration project by the China National Coal Association and a high-quality engineering project by Shaanxi Coal Industry's Construction Project Quality Supervision Center. In a response to the call for intelligent construction of coal mines, Caojiatan Coal Mine cooperates with China Unicom Shaanxi Branch, Shaanxi ZHIN Technology and ZTE, and adopts ZTE's 5G iCube cloud-network integration solution to construct the 5G communication system for intelligent mining.

The New Massive Data Challenge 
Traditional mines mainly use 4G cellular network, Wi-Fi and other wireless communication technologies. Due to complex working environment, including restricted underground space, high levels of dust, and frequent movements of large equipment, high data transmission latency and damage to optical cables often occur during mining operations, seriously threatening safe production. With the development of intelligent mining, a large number of existing and new cameras, sensors, and controllers need to be connected to the network. This requires wide coverage and large bandwidth to support massive device connectivity and HD video backhaul, and also low latency to enable production control with the underground equipment. Therefore, the mining industrial network is facing severe challenges. Traditional wireless communication technologies cannot meet the evolution requirements of intelligent mining and need to be replaced by a new generation of wireless technologies such as 5G. 

Build Digital Foundation with 5G iCube
Taking actual problems as the starting point, Caojiatan Coal Mine uses ZTE's 5G iCube cloud-network solution, and works together with ZTE to build a digital foundation for intelligent mining. The key highlight of this solution lies in the integration of 5G's high-bandwidth and low-latency communication capabilities with the powerful computing capabilities of private cloud servers, connecting the communication links from the underground, cloud, and surface, and integrating all the underground mining services into a unified framework of communication, computing, and management and control. 
In the underground, a large number of 5G communication modules are deployed to provide functional modules such as data access, voice, HD video, unified dispatching and personnel positioning for all the systems in the mining area. In the cloud, the iCube cloud network cabinet is deployed in the central equipment room, building the unified cloud foundation, and the dedicated 4G/5G integrated core network, dedicated VoNR/VoLTE IMS core network, 3-in-1 integrated NM system (UME R88) and other basic services are deployed. Above the ground, through the management & control center, data system, and application center, data can be managed visually. The architecture of the 5G iCube cloud-network solution is shown in Fig. 1. 

Moreover, the 5G iCube cloud-network solution used by Caojiatan Coal Mine has been upgraded from the following five dimensions: 
—Integrated digital foundation to realize one-network management and control: By interconnecting with the existing 4G base stations, the system completes integration of the 4G and 5G networks in the mining area, realizing the same card and number for the 4G/5G terminals, seamless coverage and lossless handovers. VoLTE/VoNR voice capability is integrated to provide real-time voice and HD video functions for terminals such as 4G/5G mobile phones, personal equipment and fixed telephones. The system also supports supplementary and value-added services such as CTX groups, call forwarding and call transfer, and voice interworking between private and public networks. 
—Implementing MOCN network sharing solution to achieve seamless connection between the public and private networks: When users on the public 5G network access the 5G base station, they access the public 5GC of China Unicom based on the PLMN ID1, and normally use the public network's data, voice and SMS services. Users on the 5G private network or 4G & 5G integrated network access the i5GC of the mine based on the PLMN ID2, which allows local traffic offloading, and they use the voice and data services of the mining intranet and interconnect with the mining application server. 
—End-to-end mechanism to guarantee the service security and reliability: Based on the resources reserved for wireless PRB and dynamic resource sharing, the system provides the security guarantee for high-priority services of the mining area. With the deployment of a completely independent 5G private network, the services of the mining area will not be affected even if the network between the mining area and the public network breaks down. The independent 100G bearer ring network is physically isolated from public network, and the optical cable failures outside the mining area will not affect the private network. 
—Interconnection with the third-party dispatching system to enrich the mineservice ecosystem: The iCube can successfully interwork with the third-party dispatching system to verify the services such as basic audio/video call, holding, pick-up, forced insertion and forced release. This effectively integrates the communication resources, achieves coordinated control and accurate dispatching, and improves work efficiency. 
—3-in-1 management improving the private network's O&M efficiency: The UME R88 integrated equipment enables the unified management of core network, wireless network and bearer network, reducing the O&M complexity, while being interconnected with the unified management and control platform of the mining area. According to statistical data, it can save the human cost of maintaining communication equipment by more than 20% annually. 
Relying on the 5G digital communication foundation, Caojiatan Coal Mine has successfully established innovative intelligent systems covering smart grid maintenance, smart belt detection, automatic drainage control, smart frequency conversion ventilation, and smart auxiliary transportation. All systems operate in good conditions. 

Conclusion
The successful implementation of the "5G iCube cloud-network solution" in Caojiatan Coal Mine marks the first integrated deployment of cloud, network, application and maintenance in the industry, which lays the foundation for the continuous intelligent upgrade and reconstruction of the mine and sets an example for the intelligent construction of other mines in China.
Looking to the future, Caojiatan Coal Mine will continue its commitment to innovation, promote the "intelligent, real-time, less-manned, and unmanned" transformation of production mode, and provide core technical support for intelligent coal mining, intelligent transportation, safety and independence guarantees, and intelligent operation management. Embracing intelligent manufacturing, ZTE will work with multiple parties to promote the implementation of "5G iCube cloud-network integration solution", driving the intelligent development of coal mines in China.