Resource Allocation for Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer Systems: A Tutorial Overview

Wei Z, Yu X, Ng DWK, Schober R (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Proceedings of the IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Pages Range: 1-23

DOI: 10.1109/JPROC.2021.3120888

Abstract

Over the last decade, simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) has become a practical and promising solution for connecting and recharging battery-limited devices due to significant advances in low-power electronics technology and wireless communications techniques. To realize the promised potentials, advanced resource allocation design plays a decisive role in revealing, understanding, and exploiting the intrinsic rate-energy tradeoff capitalizing on the dual use of radio frequency (RF) signals for wireless charging and communication. In this article, we provide a comprehensive tutorial overview of SWIPT from the perspective of resource allocation design. The fundamental concepts, system architectures, and RF energy harvesting (EH) models are introduced. In particular, three commonly adopted EH models, namely, the linear EH model, the nonlinear saturation EH model, and the nonlinear circuit-based EH model, are characterized and discussed. Then, for a typical wireless system setup, we establish a generalized resource allocation design framework that subsumes conventional resource allocation design problems as special cases. Subsequently, we elaborate on relevant tools from optimization theory and exploit them for solving representative resource allocation design problems for SWIPT systems with and without perfect channel state information (CSI) available at the transmitter, respectively. The associated technical challenges and insights are also highlighted. Furthermore, we discuss several promising and exciting future research directions for resource allocation design for SWIPT systems intertwined with cutting-edge communication technologies, such as intelligent reflecting surfaces, unmanned aerial vehicles, mobile edge computing, federated learning, and machine learning.

Authors with CRIS profile

Robert Schober Lehrstuhl für Digitale Übertragung (IDC)

Additional Organisation(s)

Lehrstuhl für Hochfrequenztechnik (LHFT) Sonderforschungsbereich 1483/1 Empathokinästhetische Sensorik – Sensortechniken und Datenanalyseverfahren zur empathokinästhetischen Modellbildung und Zustandsbestimmung (EmpkinS)

Related research project(s)

Empatho-Kinaesthetic Sensor Technology (SFB 1483 EmpkinS) July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2025

Involved external institutions

University of New South Wales (UNSW) AU Australia (AU) Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) / 香港科技大學 CN China (CN)

How to cite

APA:

Wei, Z., Yu, X., Ng, D.W.K., & Schober, R. (2021). Resource Allocation for Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer Systems: A Tutorial Overview. Proceedings of the IEEE, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1109/JPROC.2021.3120888

MLA:

Wei, Zhiqiang, et al. "Resource Allocation for Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer Systems: A Tutorial Overview." Proceedings of the IEEE (2021): 1-23.

BibTeX: Download