Transmission power optimization for energy harvesting wireless nodes

Abstract

We study the power optimization policy to maximize the average transmission rate in an energy harvesting wireless network. The addressed scenario considers an energy harvesting transmitting node where the energy arrives in discrete packets following a Poisson process. The challenge is then to optimally model the transmission period T according only to the statistical knowledge of the energy arrival process. A higher power would quickly empty the battery causing outage, while, a lower rate would inefficiently accumulate energy not to be used. A mathematical formulation of the optimal policy is derived, allowing the transmitting node to adaptively change its power.