Wireless Information and Power Transfer

15Wireless Power Transfer: A Macroscopic Approach

Constantinos Psomas* and Ioannis Krikidis

KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Cyprus, Cyprus

Large‐scale wireless networks are characterized by the existence of multi‐user interference due to the concurrent transmission of the network's terminals. In conventional networks, i.e. networks where the main focus is information transfer, interference is a critical degrading factor of a terminal's performance. On the other hand, in networks where the main focus is wireless power transfer (WPT), interference is beneficial as it increases the harvesting efficiency. However, in both cases all wireless links are influenced by path‐loss effects due to the distances between the terminals. As such, the terminals' deployment is another important element which affects their performance.

Therefore, a reasonable approach is to study radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting in large‐scale networks by taking into account spatial randomness. The modeling of the geometrical characteristics of large‐scale networks can be achieved with the employment of stochastic geometry, a suitable mathematical tool for studying spatial point processes [1]. Specifically, this chapter presents three sections, each dealing with a different wireless‐powered communication scenario:

• Section 15.1 focuses on a wireless‐powered cooperative network where the relays harvest energy from the source ...