An optimal replenishment strategy in energy harvesting wireless networks with a mobile charger

Abstract

Energy harvesting wireless network is an emerging paradigm where the wireless nodes harvest energy to increase their lifetime. Due to high potential for a large variety of applications, such networks have drawn considerable attention in both industry and academia. In this paper, we consider the energy replenishment problem when the wireless nodes not only harvest energy from the ambient environment but also may receive energy from a mobile charger. We propose an optimal energy replenishment strategy using stochastic inventory theory to derive the optimal amount of energy supplied by the mobile charger. The simulation results show that our proposed scheme not only optimizes the energy utilization, but also improves the economic benefit of the wireless nodes.