Enhanced High-Definition Video Transmission for Unmanned Driving in Mining Environments

Featured Application This work can be applied to unmanned driving in mining environments, with a specific focus on enabling low-latency transmission of high-definition video from underground vehicles to the surface operators.Abstract In the development of intelligent mines, unmanned driving transportation has emerged as a key technology to reduce human involvement and enable unmanned operations. The operation of unmanned vehicles in mining environments relies on remote operation, which necessitates the low-latency transmission of high-definition video data across multiple channels for comprehensive monitoring and precise remote control. To address the challenges associated with unmanned driving in mines, we propose a comprehensive scheme that leverages the capabilities of 5G super uplink, edge collaborative computing, and advanced video transmission strategies. This approach utilizes dual-frequency bands, specifically 3.5 GHz and 2.1 GHz, within the 5G super uplink framework to establish an infrastructure designed for high-bandwidth and low-latency information transmission, crucial for real-time autonomous operations. To overcome limitations due to computational resources at terminal devices, our scheme incorporates task offloading and edge computing methodologies to effectively reduce latency and enhance decision-making speed for real-time autonomous activities. Additionally, to consolidate the benefits of low latency, we implement several video transmission strategies, such as optimized network usage, service-specific wireless channel identification, and dynamic frame allocation. An experimental evaluation demonstrates that our approach achieves an uplink peak rate of 418.5 Mbps with an average latency of 18.3 ms during the parallel transmission of seven channels of 4K video, meeting the stringent requirements for remote control of unmanned mining vehicles.