Stochastic network calculus analysis of energy harvesting rate in wireless networks with delay and energy storage constraints

Energy evaluation of wireless transmission for data service under different QoS (quality of service) constraints is a hot topic in green communications. In this paper, we employ the theory of the stochastic network calculus to investigate the relationship between the traffic arrival rate and energy harvesting rate under the delay and energy storage constraints. We first construct a wireless system model which works only by consuming the harvested renewable energy. Also, stochastic traffic arrivals, packet size as well as a two-state Markov chain interference on energy harvesting are jointly considered to ensure the accuracy of the analysis. We derive the minimum energy harvesting rate needed to satisfy the delay and energy storage constraints under a given average arrival rate. The efficiency of the harvested energy is also studied and shown to be convex in the numerical simulation. Numerical results illustrate that while the minimum energy harvesting rate is positively correlated with the packet size, it is negatively related to the delay requirement, under a given arrival rate. Additionally, the probabilistic bound of energy insufficiency is shown to be positively correlated with the transition cycle of the interference.