Movable antennas boost wireless power and data networks efficiency
Movable Antennas Enabled Wireless Powered Networks: Principles and Technologies
Networking and Internet Architecture
Summary
Wireless powered networks send both data and energy through the air, but they often struggle with getting enough power through the signal. The authors explain how movable antennas, which can change their position, help by finding better spots where the signal is stronger. This makes it easier to send energy wirelessly and improves the overall network performance. They also discuss different technologies and show examples where these movable antennas make a clear difference. Finally, the authors talk about remaining challenges and what future research could focus on.
wireless powered networksmovable antennaswireless energy transferbeamformingchannel gainenergy harvestingsystem robustnessinterference resilienceadaptive beamformingspatial degrees of freedom
Authors
Zhendong Li, Yiran Zheng, Tianyu Li, Zhou Su, Wen Chen, Ying Wang
Abstract
As an emerging framework, movable antenna (MA)-enabled wireless powered networks (WPNs) have attracted growing attention. WPNs integrate wireless communication and energy transfer. MA can dynamically adjust the position of antenna units by introducing additional spatial degrees of freedom, so as to make full use of channel gain, optimize the effect of energy beamforming, and further improve the performance of WPNs. In this article, we first classify the implementations of MA, and review the fundamental principles of WPNs. We then highlight the key advantages of MA-enabled WPNs in enhancing wireless power transfer efficiency, realizing flexible and adaptive beamforming, and improving system robustness and interference resilience. Furthermore, four representative application scenarios and three key enabling technologies are discussed. A case study is also presented to show the improvement of energy harvesting performance brought by MA for WPNs. Finally, we discuss the challenges and future directions of MA-enabled WPNs, aiming to provide reference for future research and practice.