ISBN 9783843934527

978-3-8439-3452-7, Reihe Kommunikationstechnik

Steven Kisseleff
Advances in Magnetic Induction based Underground Communication Systems

225 Seiten, Dissertation Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (2017), Softcover, A5

Zusammenfassung / Abstract

Underground communication systems present a variety of new research challenges. Here, the goal is to establish efficient wireless connection between transceivers in the challenging underground medium. Typical applications for this type of communication systems include soil condition monitoring, earthquake prediction, communication in mines/tunnels, etc. These applications require a gathering of relevant information from multiple locations, which suggests the use of multiple sensor nodes that would be organized in wireless underground sensor networks (WUSNs). Due to the harsh propagation conditions in the soil medium (including rock, sand, and water sheds), traditional wireless signal propagation techniques using electromagnetic (EM) waves can only be applied for very short transmission ranges. In recent years, magnetic induction (MI) based transmission has been proposed to overcome these issues. In this approach, induction coils are utilized as antennas in the transceivers in order to reduce the vulnerability of signal propagation to the soil properties, in particular the soil conductivity. Correspondingly, the design rules for MI-WUSNs have been shown to substantially differ from the design rules for the traditional wireless communication systems due to unique properties of the transmission channel.

In this thesis, some advances in the area of MI-WUSNs are presented, which range from novel signal transmission techniques and network design to wireless power transfer and localization. The proposed methods have been partially presented in publications of the author and are supported by theory and simulations. These methods might help to gain a broader overview of different aspects of MI-WUSNs. Also, the thesis is supposed to inspire further research in this area by targeting the weaknesses of the existing solutions and revealing the relevant investigations that are still missing.