Improving Communication Energy Efficiency in Wireless Networks Powered by Renewable Energy Sources

Abstract

Energy efficiency is an important issue in wireless networks where the nodes are powered by batteries. In this work, we analyze the energy consumption in one-transmitter-multiple-receiver communication and develop scheduling schemes to improve energy efficiency at the transmitter. Our focus is on systems powered by a renewable energy source such as solar power. We consider an environment where both energy and time to access the wireless channel and transmit data are limited, and data destined for different receivers have different values and incur different energy costs. We present optimal scheduling algorithms that selectively transmit data at calculated rates so that the throughput or the total transmission value is maximized under given time limits and energy constraints.