On feasibility of 5G-grade dedicated RF charging technology for wireless-powered wearables

For decades, wireless energy transfer and harvesting received focused attention in the research community, but with limited practical applications. Recently, with the development of fifth-generation (5G) mobile technology, the concept of dedicated radio-frequency (RF) charging promises to support the growing market of wearable devices. In this work we shed light on the potential of wireless RF power transfer by elaborating upon feasible system parameters and architecture, emphasizing the basic tradeoffs behind omni-directional and directional out-of-band energy transmission, providing system- level performance evaluation, and discussing open challenges on the way to sustainable wireless- powered wearables. The key aspects highlighted in this article include system operation choices, user mobility effects, impact of network and user densities, and regulatory issues. Ultimately, our research aims to facilitate the integration of wireless RF charging technology into the emerging 5G ecosystem.