Signal and System Design for Wireless Power Transfer : Prototype, Experiment and Validation

A new line of research on communications and signals design for Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) has recently emerged in the communication literature. Promising signal strategies to maximize the power transfer efficiency of WPT rely on (energy) beamforming, waveform, modulation and transmit diversity, and a combination thereof. To a great extent, the study of those strategies has so far been limited to theoretical performance analysis. In this paper, we study the real over-the-air performance of all the aforementioned signal strategies for WPT. To that end, we have designed, prototyped and experimented an innovative radiative WPT architecture based on Software-Defined Radio (SDR) that can operate in open-loop and closed-loop (with channel acquisition at the transmitter) modes. The prototype consists of three important blocks, namely the channel estimator, the signal generator, and the energy harvester. The experiments have been conducted in a variety of deployments, including frequency flat and frequency selective channels, under static and mobility conditions. Experiments highlight that a channeladaptive WPT architecture based on joint beamforming and waveform design offers significant performance improvements in harvested DC power over conventional single-antenna/multiantenna continuous wave systems. The experimental results fully validate the observations predicted from the theoretical signal designs and confirm the crucial and beneficial role played by the energy harvester nonlinearity.Comment: Accepted to IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communication

Energy-Efficient Power Allocation in OFDM Systems with Wireless Information and Power Transfer

This paper considers an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) downlink point-to-point system with simultaneous wireless information and power transfer. It is assumed that the receiver is able to harvest energy from noise, interference, and the desired signals. We study the design of power allocation algorithms maximizing the energy efficiency of data transmission (bit/Joule delivered to the receiver). In particular, the algorithm design is formulated as a high-dimensional non-convex optimization problem which takes into account the circuit power consumption, the minimum required data rate, and a constraint on the minimum power delivered to the receiver. Subsequently, by exploiting the properties of nonlinear fractional programming, the considered non-convex optimization problem, whose objective function is in fractional form, is transformed into an equivalent optimization problem having an objective function in subtractive form, which enables the derivation of an efficient iterative power allocation algorithm. In each iteration, the optimal power allocation solution is derived based on dual decomposition and a one-dimensional search. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed iterative power allocation algorithm converges to the optimal solution, and unveil the trade-off between energy efficiency, system capacity, and wireless power transfer: (1) In the low transmit power regime, maximizing the system capacity may maximize the energy efficiency. (2) Wireless power transfer can enhance the energy efficiency, especially in the interference limited regime.Comment: 6 pages, Accepted for presentation at the IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC) 201

Energy-Efficient Resource Allocation in Multiuser OFDM Systems with Wireless Information and Power Transfer

In this paper, we study the resource allocation algorithm design for multiuser orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) downlink systems with simultaneous wireless information and power transfer. The algorithm design is formulated as a non-convex optimization problem for maximizing the energy efficiency of data transmission (bit/Joule delivered to the users). In particular, the problem formulation takes into account the minimum required system data rate, heterogeneous minimum required power transfers to the users, and the circuit power consumption. Subsequently, by exploiting the method of time-sharing and the properties of nonlinear fractional programming, the considered non-convex optimization problem is solved using an efficient iterative resource allocation algorithm. For each iteration, the optimal power allocation and user selection solution are derived based on Lagrange dual decomposition. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed iterative resource allocation algorithm achieves the maximum energy efficiency of the system and reveal how energy efficiency, system capacity, and wireless power transfer benefit from the presence of multiple users in the system.Comment: 6 pages. The paper has been accepted for publication at the IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC) 2013, Shanghai, China, Apr. 201