Large-Scale Multi-Antenna Multi-Sine Wireless Power Transfer

TL;DR

This paper develops large-scale multi-antenna multi-sine wireless power transfer algorithms, demonstrating the importance of nonlinearity in waveform design and showing benefits of increasing sinewaves for efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces efficient multiuser algorithms for large-scale WPT design, highlighting the nonlinear rectification effects and coupling of spatial and frequency domain optimizations.

Findings

Nonlinear models outperform linear models in WPT design.

Optimal single-user beamforming is Maximum Ratio Transmission.

More sinewaves improve WPT efficiency.

Abstract

Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) is expected to be a technology reshaping the landscape of low-power applications such as the Internet of Things, Radio Frequency identification (RFID) networks, etc. Although there has been some progress towards multi-antenna multi-sine WPT design, the large-scale design of WPT, reminiscent of massive MIMO in communications, remains an open challenge. In this paper, we derive efficient multiuser algorithms based on a generalizable optimization framework, in order to design transmit sinewaves that maximize the weighted-sum/minimum rectenna output DC voltage. The study highlights the significant effect of the nonlinearity introduced by the rectification process on the design of waveforms in multiuser systems. Interestingly, in the single-user case, the optimal spatial domain beamforming, obtained prior to the frequency domain power allocation optimization, turns out to be Maximum Ratio Transmission (MRT). In contrast, in the general weighted sum criterion maximization problem, the spatial domain beamforming optimization and the frequency domain power allocation optimization are coupled. Assuming channel hardening, low-complexity algorithms are proposed based on asymptotic analysis, to maximize the two criteria. The structure of the asymptotically optimal spatial domain precoder can be found prior to the optimization. The performance of the proposed algorithms is evaluated. Numerical results confirm the inefficiency of the linear model-based design for the single and multi-user scenarios. It is also shown that as nonlinear model-based designs, the proposed algorithms can benefit from an increasing number of sinewaves.