Multibeam Satellite Resource Allocation for Simultaneous Transfer of Information and Power

The wireless power transfer technology has recently drawn attention of communications and energy experts since it can alleviate the power shortage problem of communication nodes and devices. Its practical application, however, is limited to a very short range communication (less than 1m) only and academic research has been focused on energy harvesting in cellular network scenarios. In this paper, we address a problem of simultaneous transfer of information and power from an advanced multibeam satellite equipped with phased array antenna. First, we discuss the common and different features between information and power transfer from a satellite when they are mathematically modeled and practically implemented in terms of free-space loss, multipath channel, bandwidth allocation, power signal level, etc. Next, we formulate a resource allocation problem for the utility maximization of power transfer and information transmission, and show that the optimal solution is based on channel conditions, user demand for information (and quality of service requirements if added), safety requirement for received power amount, and interference among spotbeams that is primarily determined by geographical distribution of rectennas and receivers. The formulation and analysis developed in this paper can be an initial step towards realizing solar power transmission from multibeam satellites to the Earth in the near future