Nokia Bell Labs, Vale enter research agreement

Nokia’s (NOK) research arm, Nokia Bell Labs, and Vale (VALE) announced that they are signing a research agreement to implement a cognitive monitoring network service, enabling performance, reliability and safety enhancement of mining operations. The agreement builds on the already existing long-standing relationship at Vale’s autonomous iron-ore mine in Carajas, Brazil. Carajas is the largest iron ore open pit mine in the world. The technology tested there offers a solution for creating networks that can sense, think and act ahead of time to enable mission-critical communication in a risky environment. Future mission-critical networks are expected to further enhance productivity and safety by including cognitive services in almost every layer. Nokia Bell Labs and Vale will collaborate to develop such systems within connectivity for enabling future mining operations and to automate planning intelligence. The relationship aims to create a holistic digital twin for mission-critical connected operations in the mine. The cognitive monitoring network service enables performance, reliability and safety enhancement of mining operations by utilizing data from mine production systems, including hauling trucks, and autonomous drillers, relating them with network KPIs.