Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer in 5G Mobile Networks: A Survey

The fifth generation (5G) mobile networks are growing vigorously. As one of the most promising technologies of 5G, millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication can provide us with multi-Gbps transmission rate. However, the ultra-high transmission rate greatly increases the power consumption of wireless devices. People begin to pay attention to the lifetime of battery-powered devices when pursuing higher quality of service (QoS) of communication. Investigating an environment friendly and energy efficiency transmission technology in 5G mobile networks is an urgent task. Simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) is an innovative candidate, and an effective solution to ease the contradiction between high transmission rate and long lifetime of battery-powered devices. But the propagation features of mmWave bring new challenges to SWIPT system. This paper presents an updated literature survey on the application of SWIPT technology in 5G mobile networks. Specifically, we give an overview of SWIPT technology, not only including the typical structure, but also the classical radio frequency (RF) signal resource allocation structures and the rate-energy (R-E) tradeoff of information and energy allocation. Then, we summarize the recent advances on SWIPT technology in 5G mobile networks and explore them in various scenarios of 5G. Finally, the SWIPT-enabled mmWave network is mainly discussed according to the development of SWIPT, the propagation features of mmWave and the general structure of SWIPT-enabled mmWave network. Moreover, we put forward several potential future research directions and practical challenges.