Performance Study of IEEE 802.15.4/4g Waveforms over the Mobile Underground Mine Radio-Channel

This study evaluates the performance of an IEEE 802.15.4/4g low-rate wireless personal area network (LR-WPAN) physical layers to support Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) applications deployed in underground mines. Two physical layer models were constructed based on the IEEE 802.15.4 and IEEE 802.15.4g specifications. An appropriate channel model for the underground mine environment was selected and presented for both line of sight and non-line of sight; it was also enhanced to support mobility. Extensive computer simulations were conducted for different scenarios to investigate both LR-WPAN standards' performances in terms of bit error rate and throughput.