Radio frequency (RF) energy transfer and harvesting techniques have recently become alternative methods to power the next generation wireless networks. As this emerging technology enables proactive energy replenishment of wireless devices, it is advantageous in supporting applications with quality of service (QoS) requirements. In this paper, we present a comprehensive literature review on the research progresses in wireless networks with RF energy harvesting capability, referred to as RF energy harvesting networks (RF-EHNs). First, we present an overview of the RF-EHNs including system architecture, RF energy harvesting techniques and existing applications. Then, we present the background in circuit design as well as the state-of-the-art circuitry implementations, and review the communication protocols specially designed for RF-EHNs. We also explore various key design issues in the development of RF-EHNs according to the network types, i.e., single-hop networks, multi-antenna networks, relay networks, and cognitive radio networks. Finally, we envision some open research directions.Index Terms-RF energy harvesting, simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT), receiver operation policy, beamforming, communication protocols, RF-powered Cognitive radio network.1553-877X (c) 2 transmission. Traditionally, free-space beaming and antennas with large apertures are used to overcome propagation loss for large power transfer. For example, in 1960's, the authors in [15] demonstrate a small helicopter hovering at a height of 50 feet, powered by an RF source with a DC power supply of 270W operating on 2.45GHz on the ground. In [16], the authors demonstrate a space-to-earth power transfer system using gigantic transmit antenna arrays at a satellite and receive antenna arrays at a ground station. For transmit power of 2.7GW, the power transfer efficiency is estimated to be 45% over a transfer distance of 36000km. During the past decade, with the development in RF energy harvesting circuit, low power transfer for powering mobile terminals in wireless communication systems began to attract increasing attention [17], [18]. The authors in [17] propose a network architecture for RF charging stations, overlaying with an uplink cellular network. In [18], a harvest-then-transmit protocol is introduced for power transfer in wireless broadcast system. Moreover, various modern beamforming techniques are employed to improve power transfer efficiency [18]-[20] for mobile applications.It is until recently that the dual use of RF signals for delivering energy as well as for transporting information has been advocated [21], [22]. Simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) [23] is proposed for delivering RF energy, usually in a low power region (e.g., for sensor networks). SWIPT provides the advantage of delivering controllable and efficient on-demand wireless information and energy concurrently, which offers a low-cost option for sustainable operations of wireless systems without hardware modification on the ...

Abstract-Wireless charging is a technology of transmitting power through an air gap to electrical devices for the purpose of energy replenishment. The recent progress in wireless charging techniques and development of commercial products have provided a promising alternative way to address the energy bottleneck of conventionally portable battery-powered devices. However, the incorporation of wireless charging into the existing wireless communication systems also brings along a series of challenging issues with regard to implementation, scheduling, and power management. In this article, we present a comprehensive overview of wireless charging techniques, the developments in technical standards, and their recent advances in network applications. In particular, with regard to network applications, we review the static charger scheduling strategies, mobile charger dispatch strategies and wireless charger deployment strategies. Additionally, we discuss open issues and challenges in implementing wireless charging technologies. Finally, we envision some practical future network applications of wireless charging.

Recently, ambient backscatter communications has been introduced as a cutting-edge technology which enables smart devices to communicate by utilizing ambient radio frequency (RF) signals without requiring active RF transmission. This technology is especially effective in addressing communication and energy efficiency problems for low-power communications systems such as sensor networks. It is expected to realize numerous Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications. Therefore, this paper aims to provide a contemporary and comprehensive literature review on fundamentals, applications, challenges, and research efforts/progress of ambient backscatter communications. In particular, we first present fundamentals of backscatter communications and briefly review bistatic backscatter communications systems. Then, the general architecture, advantages, and solutions to address existing issues and limitations of ambient backscatter communications systems are discussed. Additionally, emerging applications of ambient backscatter communications are highlighted. Finally, we outline some open issues and future research directions.Index Terms-Ambient backscatter, wireless networks, bistatic backscatter, RFID, wireless energy harvesting, backscatter communications, and passive communications.

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Machine-to-machine (M2M) communications have emerged as a cutting edge technology for next-generation communications, and are undergoing rapid development and inspiring numerous applications. This article presents an investigation of the application of M2M communication in smart grid. First, an overview of M2M communications is given. The enabling technologies and open research issues of of M2M communications are also discussed. Then, we address the network design issue of M2M communications for home energy management system (HEMS) in smart grid. The network architecture for HEMS to collect status and power consumption demand from home appliances is introduced. Then, the optimal HEMS traffic concentration is presented and formulated as the optimal cluster formation. Dynamic programming algorithm is applied to obtain the optimal solution. The numerical resultsshow that the proposed optimal traffic concentration can minimize the cost of HEMS.

Spectrum efficiency and energy efficiency are two critical issues in designing wireless networks. Through dynamic spectrum access, cognitive radios can improve the spectrum efficiency and capacity of wireless networks.On the other hand, radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting has emerged as a promising technique to supply energy to wireless networks and thereby increase their energy efficiency. Therefore, to achieve both spectrum and energy efficiencies, the secondary users in a cognitive radio network (CRN) can be equipped with the RF energy harvesting capability and such a network can be referred to as an RF-powered cognitive radio network. In this article, we provide an overview of the RF-powered CRNs and discuss the challenges that arise for dynamic spectrum access in these networks. Focusing on the tradeoff among spectrum sensing, data transmission, and RF energy harvesting, then we discuss the dynamic channel selection problem in a multi-channel RF-powered CRN. In the RF-powered CRN, a secondary user can adaptively select a channel to transmit data when the channel is not occupied by any primary user. Alternatively, the secondary user can harvest RF energy for data transmission if the channel is occupied. The optimal channel selection policy of the secondary user can be obtained by formulating a Markov decision process (MDP) problem. We present some numerical results obtained by solving this MDP problem.

Ambient backscatter communication technology has been introduced recently, and is then quickly becoming a promising choice for self-sustainable communication systems as an external power supply or a dedicated carrier emitter is not required. By leveraging existing RF signal resources, ambient backscatter technology can support sustainable and independent communications and consequently open up a whole new set of applications that facilitate Internetof-Things (IoT). In this article, we study an integration of ambient backscatter with wireless powered communication networks (WPCNs). We first present an overview of backscatter communication systems with an emphasis on the emerging ambient backscatter technology. Then we propose a novel hybrid transmitter design by combining the advantages of both ambient backscatter and wireless powered communications. Furthermore, in the cognitive radio environment, we introduce a multiple access scheme to coordinate the hybrid data transmissions. The performance evaluation shows that the hybrid transmitter outperforms traditional designs. In addition, we discuss some open issues related to the ambient backscatter networking. Index TermsAmbient backscatter communications, modulated backscatter, RF energy harvesting, self-sustainable communications, wireless powered communications, Internet-of-Things. I. INTRODUCTIONInformation transmission based on modulated backscatter of incident signals from external RF sources has emerged as a promising solution for low-power wireless communications. The power consumption of a typical backscatter transmitter is less than 1 µW [1], which renders excessively long lifetime, e.g., 10 years, for an on-chip battery. This low power consumption well matches the harvestable wireless energy from RF sources, e.g., typically from 1 µW to tens of µW [2], [3]. This additionally renders RF energy harvesting to be an alternative to power backscatter transmitters. Furthermore, backscatter communications Dong In Kim is the corresponding author 2 can be embedded into small gadgets and objects, e.g., a radio frequency identification (RFID) and passive sensor. Therefore, backscatter communications is also envisioned as the last hop in the Internet-of-Things (IoT) [4], which requires low cost and ubiquitous deployment of small-sized devices [5].Due to recent dramatic increases in application demands, the requirement for backscatter communications has gone beyond the conventional RFID towards a more data-intensive way. This strongly raises the need for re-engineering backscatter transmitters for better reliability, higher data rates, and longer interrogation/transmission range. However, traditional backscatter communication techniques, e.g., RFID, are hindered by three major shortcomings: 1) The activation of backscatter transmitters relies on an external power supply such as an active interrogator (also called a reader or carrier emitter) which is costly and bulky.2) A backscatter transmitter passively responds only when inquired by a reader. The communication link ...

Wireless charging is a technique of transmitting power through an air gap to an electrical device for the purpose of energy replenishment. Recently, the wireless charging technology has been significantly advanced in terms of efficiency and functionality. This article first presents an overview and fundamentals of wireless charging.We then provide the review of standards, i.e., Qi and Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), and highlight on their communication protocols. Next, we propose a novel concept of wireless charger networking which allows chargers to be connected to facilitate information collection and control. We demonstrate the application of the wireless charger network in user-charger assignment, which clearly shows the benefit in terms of reduced costs for users to identify the best chargers to replenish energy for their mobile devices.