Resolving the Double Near-Far Problem via Wireless Powered Pinching-Antenna Networks

TL;DR

This paper proposes a wireless powered pinching-antenna network (WPPAN) that uses a single waveguide with pinching antennas to mitigate the double near-far problem, improving energy harvesting and data transmission.

Contribution

Introduction of WPPAN system with novel antenna activation strategies and convex optimization solutions to address the double near-far problem in wireless power transfer.

Findings

Effective mitigation of the double near-far problem.

Enhanced energy harvesting for users closer to antennas.

Improved uplink data transmission performance.

Abstract

This letter introduces a novel wireless powered communication system, referred to as a wireless powered pinching-antenna network (WPPAN), utilizing a single waveguide with pinching antennas to address the double near-far problem inherent in wireless powered networks. In the proposed WPPAN, users harvest energy from spatially distributed pinching antennas in the downlink and use the collected power to transmit messages in the uplink. Furthermore, to manage the combinatorial complexity associated with activating the pinching antennas, we propose three approaches of varying complexity to simplify the original resource allocation problem and then solve it efficiently using convex optimization methods. Simulation results confirm that the proposed WPPAN system effectively mitigates the double near-far problem by providing antenna resources closer to the users, thereby enhancing both downlink energy harvesting and uplink data transmission.