M$^2$I Communication: From Theoretical Modeling to Practical Design

TL;DR

This paper presents a practical design for Metamaterial-enhanced Magnetic Induction (M$^2$I) communication using spherical coil arrays, demonstrating significant range extension validated through simulation and theoretical analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a feasible spherical coil array design for M$^2$I, achieving negative permeability and resonance, bridging the gap between theory and practical implementation.

Findings

Significant increase in communication range with the proposed design

Validation of theoretical predictions through full-wave simulation

Achievement of negative permeability and resonance in the spherical coil array

Abstract

Wireless communications in complex environments are constrained by lossy media and complicated structures. Magnetic Induction (MI) has been proved to be an efficient solution to extend the communication range. Due to the small coil antenna's physical limitation, however, MI's communication range is still very limited. To this end, Metamaterial-enhanced Magnetic Induction (M$^2$I) communication has been proposed and the theoretical results suggest that it can significantly increase the communication performance, namely, data rate and communication range. Nevertheless, currently, the real implementation of M$^2$I is still a challenge and there is no guideline on design and fabrication of spherical metamaterial. In this paper, we propose a practical design by using a spherical coil array to realize M$^2$I and we prove that it can achieve negative permeability and there exists a resonance condition where the radiated magnetic field can be significantly amplified. The radiation and communication performance are evaluated and full-wave simulation in COMSOL Multiphysics is conducted to validate the design objectives. By using the spherical coil array-based M$^2$I, the communication range can be significantly extended, exactly as we predicted in the theoretical model.