Massive Wireless Energy Transfer with Multiple Power Beacons for very large Internet of Things

TL;DR

This paper proposes a framework for minimizing power consumption in massive IoT networks powered by multiple wireless energy transmitters, improving efficiency and safety.

Contribution

It introduces a novel power minimization strategy for multiple power beacons in large IoT deployments, considering device locations and battery states.

Findings

Reduces outage probability with more PBs and higher energy demands

Provides analytical insights for distant device clusters

Demonstrates effectiveness through numerical simulations

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) comprises an increasing number of low-power and low-cost devices that autonomously interact with the surrounding environment. As a consequence of their popularity, future IoT deployments will be massive, which demands energy-efficient systems to extend their lifetime and improve the user experience. Radio frequency wireless energy transfer has the potential of powering massive IoT networks, thus eliminating the need for frequent battery replacement by using the so-called power beacons (PBs). In this paper, we provide a framework for minimizing the sum transmit power of the PBs using devices' positions information and their current battery state. Our strategy aims to reduce the PBs' power consumption and to mitigate the possible impact of the electromagnetic radiation on human health. We also present analytical insights for the case of very distant clusters and evaluate their applicability. Numerical results show that our proposed framework reduces the outage probability as the number of PBs and/or the energy demands increase.