Fair Scheduling for Energy Harvesting Nodes

Abstract

This letter considers the problem of scheduling in the multiple input multiple output (MIMO), multiple-access wireless channel, where the transmitters are energy harvesting nodes (EHNs) that are powered by renewable energy sources (RESs). In this letter the conventional scheduling objective of maximizing rate is augmented by two other objectives, regulating fairness, and stabilization of the stored energy processes of the EHNs. This problem is formulated as a network of energy queues, which represent the batteries. Considering the stochastic nature of the wireless channel and the energy harvesting processes, this letter employs Lyapunov drift plus penalty technique to develop a cross-layer scheduler that operates in a slotted-time and distributed manner. At each epoch it selects an EHN for transmission and computes the transmit power. As an added advantage the power control algorithm still retains the optimal water-filling solution. Through simulations the proposed solution is compared against a conventional max-rate scheduler and is shown to better enforce fairness, stabilize the battery levels, and minimize the required battery capacity.

Downlink user association and uplink scheduling for energy harvesting users in software-defined mobile networks

“…On the other hand, Uplink scheduling is also of the great importance in wireless networks. In this regard, the authors in [29] have studied the problem of fair scheduling in multiple-antenna energy harvesting nodes which is achieved by maximizing the data-rate and regulating fairness and stabilization of stored energy in the nodes. In order to obtain these goals, the authors have employed Lyapunov drift-plus-penalty function which represents the queue nature of batteries.…”