Magnetic Induction-Based Non-Conventional Media Communications: A Review

The magnetic induction (MI)-based communications assume the applications, wherein standard electromagnetic (EM) wave and acoustic communications are not effective. The EM and acoustic-based communications do have high power loss, high propagation delays, very low data rates, and environment-dependent channel behavior. MI communications heavily depend upon the time varying magnetic field to convey information between transmitter and receiver. MI-based communications for non-conventional media (e.g., underwater or underground) exhibit several unique and promising qualities, such as constant channel behavior, negligible propagation delay, and large communications range. This paper surveys the current state-of-the-art magnetic induction-based communications for non-conventional media applications. The widely used communications techniques for non-conventional media are qualitatively compared. In particular, the advantages and the disadvantages of different communications techniques are analyzed in terms of different performance metrics. In addition, we highlight some important open issues related to the design of MI for non-conventional media. This survey aims to provide a useful guidance to the researchers in this area.