Wireless Information and Power Transfer

9Wireless Information and Power Transfer in Relaying Systems

Panagiotis D. Diamantoulakis¹*, Koralia N. Pappi^2,3, and George K. Karagiannidis³

¹Institute for Digital Communications, Friedrich‐Alexander University, Erlangen D‐91058, Germany

²Intracom S. A. Telecom Solutions, GR‐57001, Thessaloniki, Greece

³Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR‐54124 Thessaloniki, Greece

9.1 Introduction

While the era of the fifth‐generation (5G) communication systems and beyond is rapidly approaching, future networks pose new challenges, displaying a group of diverse characteristics. These networks are expected to accommodate a vast number of wireless connected devices with increased throughput, which will be low‐cost, with extended lifetime, environmentally friendly, and with no need for hard‐wiring. Furthermore, with the introduction of the Internet‐of‐Things (IoT), many objects will be connected to the internet, including devices such as smart meters, sensors, etc., which are remotely situated. These remote devices may not have access to energy resources, and they may also be situated at a great distance from the destination of their transmitted information [1].

In the light of the above considerations, energy harvesting (EH), as an emerging solution for prolonging the lifetime of the energy‐constrained wireless devices, has gained significant research interest in recent years [1]. Conventional energy harvesting techniques which rely on external ...