Resource Allocation in Wireless Networks with RF Energy Harvesting and Transfer

Radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting and transfer techniques have recently become alternative methods to power the next generation of wireless networks. As this emerging technology enables proactive replenishment of wireless devices, it is advantageous in supporting applications with quality-of-service (QoS) requirement. This article focuses on the resource allocation issues in wireless networks with RF energy harvesting capability, referred to as RF energy harvesting networks (RF-EHNs). First, we present an overview of the RF-EHNs, followed by a review of a variety of issues regarding resource allocation. Then, we present a case study of designing in the receiver operation policy, which is of paramount importance in the RF-EHNs. We focus on QoS support and service differentiation, which have not been addressed by previous literatures. Furthermore, we outline some open research directions.Comment: To appear in IEEE Networ

Optimal time sharing in underlay cognitive radio systems with RF energy harvesting

Due to the fundamental tradeoffs, achieving spectrum efficiency and energy efficiency are two contending design challenges for the future wireless networks. However, applying radio-frequency (RF) energy harvesting (EH) in a cognitive radio system could potentially circumvent this tradeoff, resulting in a secondary system with limitless power supply and meaningful achievable information rates. This paper proposes an online solution for the optimal time allocation (time sharing) between the EH phase and the information transmission (IT) phase in an underlay cognitive radio system, which harvests the RF energy originating from the primary system. The proposed online solution maximizes the average achievable rate of the cognitive radio system, subject to the $\varepsilon$-percentile protection criteria for the primary system. The optimal time sharing achieves significant gains compared to equal time allocation between the EH and IT phases.Comment: Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE International Conference on Communications (IEEE ICC 2015), 8-12 June 2015, London, U