A New Internet of Things Hybrid VLC/RF System for m-Health in an Underground Mining Industry

Iturralde, Daniel ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2134-0453, Guaña-Moya, Javier ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4296-0299, Játiva, Pablo Palacios ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3958-503X, Sánchez, Iván, Ijaz, Muhammad ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0050-9435, Dehghan Firoozabadi, Ali ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6391-6863 and Zabala-Blanco, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5692-5673 (2024) A New Internet of Things Hybrid VLC/RF System for m-Health in an Underground Mining Industry. Sensors, 24 (1). 31. ISSN 1424-8220

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Abstract

This paper proposes a new system based on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for the monitoring of Mobile Health (m-Health) of workers in the underground mining industry. The proposed architecture uses a hybrid model in data transmission. Visible Light Communication (VLC) is used for downlink because of its narrow coverage, which aids in worker positioning. Radio frequency (RF) communication technology is used to send data for primary vital signs in the uplink, which is more efficient in transmission and is a viable solution according to the problem raised. The results obtained in terms of coverage and transmission for the downlink and uplink links show the feasibility of implementing the proposed system.