Joint Optimization of Transmission Policies for Collaborative Beamforming With Energy Harvesting Sensors

In this paper, we consider a scenario where a number of energy harvesting sensors cooperate to transmit a common message to a distant base station. The goal is to find the jointly optimal transmission (power allocation) policy that maximizes the total throughput for a given deadline. We solve the problem in a semi-analytical manner and rigorously prove its optimality. The computational complexity of the proposed scheme is analyzed in detail and compared with that of interior point methods. Performance is extensively assessed by means of computer simulations. As benchmarks, we consider the case where the transmission policies for each sensor are separately optimized, as well as other cluster-based suboptimal transmission strategies.