Optimal Receiving System Using Ground Electrode Arrays for Through-the-Earth Communication

Through-the-earth (TTE) communication provides a practical solution for data transmission in environments with substantial electromagnetic shielding. However, the alignment of the receiving electrodes relative to the signal propagation direction has a significant impact on the strength of the received signal. Furthermore, the power-frequency interference signal, emanating from the power system, can significantly degrade the quality of reception, potentially obscuring the desired signal entirely. To address these issues, this paper proposes a ground electrode array receiving system designed to optimize the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR). The system first utilizes an orthogonal “L”-shaped ground electrode array to perform preliminary detection of both the ground current signal and the power-frequency interference signal, while approximately determining their respective propagation directions. Subsequently, a semicircular array, consisting of multiple “L”-shaped electrode groups, is employed for precise identification of the signal propagation direction. An optimization problem is formulated based on the SINR to select the optimal receiving channel, thereby ensuring the best possible signal reception. The experimental results show that, compared to the conventional dual-electrode configuration with a single channel, the proposed system significantly improves the SINR of the received signal, demonstrating superior anti-interference performance.