NeTS: Small: Collaborative Research: Rechargeable Networks with Energy Cooperation

用于能量采集通信的无线能量传输将引入一种具有更长寿命的新型无线网络，可在具有挑战性的条件或地点部署，包括基础设施内和体内应用。这样的节点不仅将从大自然中获取能量来不断为电池充电，而且还将能够通过无线能量传输与网络中的类似设备共享能量，从而实现不间断和永久运行。通过无线能量传输的能源合作在从自然资源获取能源的基础上增加了一个重要的新维度，使节点能够根据需要将部分能量传输到邻近节点。这项技术使能量接收节点能够通过有针对性和优化的能量转移过程从人造来源获取能量。因此，这项技术作为一种额外的能源是有用的，作为一种机制，在环境资源波动时调节输入能量的速度，并且当环境资源不足时可能是唯一可靠的能源。本项目研究无线能量传输能量收集无线网络的通信理论、优化和组网方面，以确定此类系统的最佳传输、调度、接收和组网方法。研究人员的目标是在用户从自然能源中获取能量的基础上，确定最优的无线能量传输次数和数量，从而优化能量接收节点的整体能量到达轮廓，以最大化用户的给定目标。此外，研究人员的目标是研究电池级别的能量协作方案，以及物理层的信号协作方案，以提高中小型网络中系统的端到端吞吐量。最后，研究人员将研究多跳协作无线网络中的联合能量和信息路由，其中由于无线能量传递，能量和信息在系统中一起流动。研究人员的目标是开发实用的、分布式的、基于本地测量的背压型算法，用于控制网络中的数据和能量队列。

Wireless energy transfer for energy harvesting communications will introduce a new breed of wireless networks with extended lifetime, deployable in challenging conditions or locations including in-infrastructure and in-body applications. Such nodes will not only harvest energy from nature to continually recharge their batteries but will be able to share energy with similar devices in the network via wireless energy transfer for uninterrupted and perpetual operation. Energy cooperation through wireless energy transfer adds a significant new dimension on top of energy harvesting from natural resources, by giving nodes the ability to transfer some of their energies to neighboring nodes as needed. This technology enables the energy-receiving nodes to harvest energy from a man-made source via a targeted and optimized energy transfer process. As such, this technology is useful as an additional source of energy, as a mechanism to regulate the pace of incoming energy when ambient resources fluctuate and could be the only dependable energy source when ambient resources are not sufficient.This project investigates communication theory, optimization and networking aspects of energy harvesting wireless networks with wireless energy transfer in order to determine the optimum transmission, scheduling, reception and networking methods for such systems. The researchers aim to determine the optimum wireless energy transfer times and amounts, on top of the energy harvesting profile of the user from natural energy sources, so as to optimize the overall energy arrival profile at the energy receiving node, to maximize the given objective of the user. In addition, the researchers aim to investigate energy cooperation schemes at the battery level that together with signal cooperation schemes at the physical layer improve the end-to-end throughput of the system in small to medium size networks. Finally, the researchers will study joint energy and information routing in multi-hop cooperative wireless networks, where energy and information flow together in the system due to wireless energy transfer. The researchers aim to develop practical, distributed, local measurement-based, back-pressure type algorithms for the control of both data and energy queues in the network.