When is it optimal for the event-triggered strategy in energy harvesting transmission

Abstract

Abstract The energy harvesting network in mobile environment is promising for sustainable environment and green communication. How to efficiently use the harvested energy is a key to improve the performance of energy harvesting communication network. This paper considers a point-to-point communication scenario where a static sensor harvests energy and transmits information to a moving agent. From the viewpoint of information theory, we present an optimal power allocation (PA) solution to achieve the maximum channel service. We prove that using a water-filling transmission power, during a single transmission timeslot, the energy depletion time is uniquely determined by the initial energy in the sensor regardless of the energy-harvesting power. On the other hand, the energy depletion time is a determinant of whether the energy is exhausted at the end of the transmission timeslot. Based on the obtained results, an event-triggered transmission strategy is proposed where a sensor harvests energy to a certain amount so as to trigger information transmission towards the moving agent. Some numerical results are provided to confirm the theoretical analysis and our proposed event-triggered implementation approach.

Keywords

• Energy harvest
• Mobile communication
• Water filling
• Event-triggered strategy
• Channel service