Optimal Deployment for Magnetic Induction-Based Wireless Networks in Challenged Environments

New propagation techniques using magnetic induction (MI) waveguide solves the problems of traditional techniques in many challenged environments, such as underground, mines/tunnels, and oil reservoirs. However, deploying MI waveguides to connect the wireless nodes in such networks is challenging due to the high deployment cost, the complex shape of the communication range of the MI waveguides, and the significant impacts of the node failure and relay coil displacement. To date, the deployment problems in the MI-based networks have not been addressed. In this paper, the optimal MI waveguide deployment strategies are investigated in both one and two dimensional MI-based networks where the nodes are distributed either randomly or according to a regular lattice. Validated by both theoretical deduction and simulations, the proposed deployment strategies can construct a reliable MI-based network that is robust to node failure and relay coil displacement with minimum cost.