Wireless Communication Modeling for the Deployment of Tiny IoT Devices in Rocky and Mountainous Environments

Internet of Things (IoT) monitoring and tracking devices could be used to track and monitor wildlife (for example, mountain lions) in mountainous and rocky environments. Similarly, these devices would provide connectivity through device-to-device and device-to-machine communications during search and rescue (SAR) and military operations in the same environments. They may also monitor the locations, health conditions, and general safety of hikers during hiking recreation. However, accurate and reliable communication models that will ensure efficient and functional deployment of the devices are not available. This study uses actual IoT devices in the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz bands to take measurements in rocky terrain and proposes reliable communication models. The proposed models are compared with theoretical models, which deviate from 8 to 38 dB. Also, result shows that mountains and rocks cause about 8 dB signal loss on average. The practical propagation data and models could be used to improve the operation of SAR teams, scientific communities, and other applications of IoT.