The wireless power transfer via an electro-magnetic (EM) wave enables far-field power transfer for supplying power to IoT devices. However, the power attenuation of the EM wave leads to low end-to-end power transfer efficiency. In this paper, we provide an analytic and experimental study on the distributed wireless power transfer system as a means to overcome the low power transfer efficiency. In the distributed wireless power transfer system, a number of multi-antenna power beacons, which are distributed over space, send out wireless power to charge IoT devices. Since each power beacon has a separate local oscillator and controller, it is very challenging to achieve frequency and phase synchronization among power beacons, which is the prerequisite for optimal distributed beamforming. In this paper, we study the performance of the distributed wireless power transfer system with or without the frequency and phase synchronization. Based on the experiment and simulation results, we show that the distributed wireless charging is advantageous in terms of the coverage probability as long as the optimal distributed beamforming is available in the distributed wireless power transfer system.

In this paper, we propose a novel simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) scheme for the internet of things (IoT). Differently from the conventional power splitting (PS) and time switching (TS) schemes, the proposed scheme sends the wireless power via the unmodulated high-power continuous wave (CW) and transmits information by using a small modulated signal in order to reduce the interference and to enhance the power amplifier efficiency. We design a receiver circuit for processing such SWIPT signals, which is designed with the aim of minimizing the circuit complexity and power consumption for information decoding. This goal is achieved by first rectifying the received signal and then splitting the power and information signals. We analyze the proposed receiver circuit and derive the closed-form expression for the energy harvesting efficiency and the frequency response of the communication signal. We have implemented the proposed receiver circuit and built the real-time testbed for experimenting simultaneous transmission of information and power. By experiments, we have verified the correctness of the receiver circuit analysis and shown the validity of the proposed SWIPT scheme.

As wireless has disrupted communications, wireless will also disrupt the delivery of energy. Future wireless networks will be equipped with (radiative) wireless power transfer (WPT) capability and exploit radio waves to carry both energy and information through unified wireless information and power transfer (WIPT). Such networks will make the best use of the RF spectrum and radiation, as well as the network infrastructure for the dual purpose of communicating and energizing. Consequently, those networks will enable trillions of future low-power devices to sense, compute, connect, and energize anywhere, anytime, and on the move. In this article, we review the foundations of such a future system. We first give an overview of the fundamental theoretical building blocks of WPT and WIPT. Then, we discuss some state-of-the-art experimental setups and prototypes of both WPT and WIPT, and contrast theoretical and experimental results. We draw special attention to how the integration of RF, signal, and system designs in WPT and WIPT leads to new theoretical and experimental design challenges for both microwave and communication engineers and highlight some promising solutions. Topics and experimental testbeds discussed include closed-loop WPT and WIPT architectures with beamforming, waveform, channel acquisition, and single-antenna/multiantenna energy harvester, centralized and distributed WPT, reconfigurable metasurfaces and intelligent surfaces for WPT, transmitter and receiver architecture for WIPT, modulation, and rate–energy tradeoff. Moreover, we highlight important theoretical and experimental research directions to be addressed for WPT and WIPT to become a foundational technology of future wireless networks.

Recently, the fifth generation of cellular mobile communications (5G) network has been deployed and become pervasive. 5G offers a significant increase in terms of bandwidth and data rate compared to the previous generations. In addition, new technologies such as millimeter-wave (mmWave) technology and massive MIMO (mMIMO), have been proposed to meet the demand. However, some inevitable challenges still exist. In mmWave frequency, path loss and shadowing become more severe due to the radio electromagnetic (EM) wave characteristics. In this paper, we propose the utilization of reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) to aid wireless communications to overcome path loss and shadowing issues, by using a compressive sensing-based adaptive beamforming algorithm. To validate the theory, hypothesis, and simulation results, we have designed, fabricated, and conducted experiments with a 1-bit RIS testbed. The results show that the bit error rate (BER) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the received signal are significantly improved when the proposed RIS is employed. Further, we have also demonstrated a video streaming application aided by the proposed RIS as one of the potential RIS deployment scenarios.

In this paper, we investigate a multi-node multiantenna wireless-powered sensor network (WPSN) comprised of one power beacon and multiple sensor nodes. We have implemented a real-life multi-node multi-antenna WPSN testbed that operates in real time. We propose a beam-splitting beamforming technique that enables a power beacon to split microwave energy beams towards multiple nodes for simultaneous charging. We experimentally demonstrate that the beam-splitting beamforming technique achieves the Pareto optimality. For perpetual operation of the sensor nodes, we adopt an energy neutral control algorithm that keeps a sensor node alive by balancing the harvested and consumed power. The joint beam-splitting and energy neutral control algorithm is designed by means of the Lyapunov optimization technique. In our experiments, the proposed algorithm has successfully kept all sensor nodes alive by optimally splitting energy beams towards multiple sensor nodes.

Wireless information and energy transfer (WIET) represents an emerging paradigm that employs controllable transmission of radio frequency signals for the dual purpose of data communication and wireless charging. As such, WIET is widely regarded as an enabler of envisioned sixth-generation (6G) use cases that rely on energy-sustainable Internet-of-Things (IoT) networks, such as smart cities and smart grids. Meeting the quality-of-service demands of WIET, in terms of both data transfer and power delivery, requires effective codesign of the information and energy signals. In this article, we present the main principles and design aspects of WIET, focusing on its integration in 6G networks. First, we discuss how conventional communication notions, such as resource allocation and waveform design, need to be revisited in the context of WIET. Next, we consider various candidate 6G technologies that can boost WIET efficiency, namely, holographic multiple-input multiple-output, near-field beamforming, terahertz communication, intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs), and reconfigurable (fluid) antenna arrays. We introduce respective WIET design methods, analyze the promising performance gains of these WIET systems, and discuss challenges, open issues, and future research directions. Finally, a near-field energy beamforming scheme and a power-based IRS beamforming algorithm are experimentally validated using a wireless energy transfer testbed. The vision of WIET in communication systems has been gaining momentum in recent years, with constant progress with respect to theoretical and also practical aspects. The comprehensive overview of the state of the art of WIET presented in this article highlights the potential of WIET systems and their overall benefits in 6G networks.