Analysis and design of energy harvesting wireless communication systems

Wireless-powered communication is an emerging technology for powering the large number of miniature devices of the future. In a wireless-powered communication system, low-power sensors extract energy from the incident wireless signals to power their operations such as information transmission, sensing or reception. Due to sporadic energy availability, however, such a system is fundamentally different from a traditionally-powered communication system. This dissertation investigates three distinct aspects of wireless-powered communications to get insights on the system operation. First, leveraging concepts from finite-length information theory, an analytical framework is developed for examining wireless-powered communications with short packets, i.e., in the finite blocklength regime. This is relevant as remotely-powered communications may entail short packets due to small payloads, low-latency requirements, or limited energy to support a longer transmission. Second, using a stochastic geometry framework, an analytical model is developed for characterizing the performance of wireless-powered communications in the millimeter wave (mmWave) band. The proposed model incorporates the key features of mmWave systems such as directional beamforming and sensitivity to building blockages. Finally, the power transfer efficiency and the energy efficiency of a wireless-powered communication system aided by massive MIMO is characterized. The broad goal of this dissertation is to better understand wireless-powered communications in the context of the emerging technologies for 5G.