Enabling Far-Field Power Transfer and RF Energy Harvesting in Future Wireless Communication Networks

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Driven by the rapid expansion and penetration of the wireless information and communication technology in numerous domains of today's society, and the urgent need for more energy-efficient wireless networks with environmentally friendly wireless devices, the concurrent emergence of two revolutionary technologies, far-field wireless power transfer and RF energy harvesting, will inevitably see the rise of a new wireless paradigm. These technologies offer promising solutions for utilizing the energy resources in an efficient way to satisfy the increasing demands, and open new perspectives for the development of the future-generation of wirelessly powered communication networks. This trend poses significant challenges, which range from defining the fundamental limits of these technologies to developing network management and resource sharing protocols that ensure efficient deployment and operation. In this context, the main goal of the research program proposed in this grant application is to advance fundamental contributions to advance the state-of-the-art capability of wireless power transfer and harvesting technologies, and enable essential functionalities for the development and ultimate deployment of future wireless communication networks with automatic wireless power recharging. To that end, backbone techniques for large-scale far-field wireless power transfer and RF energy harvesting, new design strategies, network protocols and resource management techniques will be developed. Leveraging the complementarity between these wireless power recharging technologies, our solutions will be built upon agile architectures that provide the most useful control capabilities and adaptation, and demonstrating an awareness of the environment and an ability to automatically react to changes and requirements. Our research program couples research and educational development closely, and will integrate communication theory, networking and wireless power transfer/harvesting in a unique and natural fashion. We will introduce a quantitative, systematic and fundamental approach to wirelessly powered networked communications. The outcome of this research program is expected to contribute substantially to the state-of-the-art research towards establishing foundational design policies in this transformational emerging paradigm of wirelessly powered communication networks. As such, significant technical and industrial impacts are expected. The new technologies to be developed will not only result in high-technology transfer, but will also contribute to the development of innovative technologies in the telecommunications sector of the Canadian economy to strengthen the quality and capacity of Canada's wireless communication infrastructure. The research program will also provide leading-edge training for graduate students.