Full-Duplex Magnetic Induction Communication: Opportunities and Challenges

The demand for high data rates is rapidly increasing as the interest in Magnetic Induction (MI) communication-based underwater applications grow. However, the data rate in MI communication is limited by the use of low operational frequency in generating a quasi-static magnetic field. In this article, we propose the use of full-duplex (FD) MI communication to efficiently utilize the available bandwidth and instantly double the data rate. We propose a two-dimensional (2D) transceiver architecture to achieve FD communication by exploiting the directional nature of magnetic fields. We further evaluate the proposed end-to-end FD MI communication against self-interference (SI), its impact on communication distance, and robustness in view of orientation sensitivity. Finally, we conclude by discussing and highlighting the potential future research directions.