Performance Analysis of Dual-Hop AF Relaying with Non-Linear/Linear Energy Harvesting

Area of Science:

• Wireless Communications
• Energy Harvesting
• Internet of Things (IoT)

Background:

• Next-generation wireless networks rely on massive device-to-device and IoT nodes.
• Limited battery energy poses a significant challenge for these devices.
• Radio Frequency (RF) energy harvesting (EH) offers a solution to overcome energy constraints.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze a wireless-powered dual-hop amplify-and-forward relaying system with RF energy harvesting.
• To derive theoretical expressions for performance metrics like bit error probability, outage probability, and throughput.
• To compare the performance of linear and non-linear energy harvesting models.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical derivations for bit error probability, outage probability, and throughput.
• Modeling of a dual-hop relay system powered by a dedicated power beacon (PB).
• Validation of theoretical results using Monte Carlo simulations.

Main Results:

• The non-linear EH model provides a realistic performance assessment, unlike the linear model.
• The linear EH model overestimates system performance at high harvested energy levels.
• Both linear and non-linear models yield similar, realistic results at low harvested energy levels.

Conclusions:

• The choice of EH model significantly impacts the perceived performance of wireless systems.
• Accurate modeling, especially using non-linear EH, is crucial for understanding and designing energy-efficient wireless networks.
• The study highlights the limitations of simplified linear EH models in practical scenarios.