Location-aware device communication design: exploration and exploitation on energy

Cooperation among devices is an important part of green communication. As one of the core techniques of 5G technology, device-to-device (D2D) technology is able to improve spectrum efficiency and take advantage of the neighborhood information. While most of the existing work focuses on D2D pairs, clustering technology can bring benefits, especially in energy efficiency. In this article we focus on the benefits of energy saving when location-aware devices cooperate. More specifically, the green communication of location-aware devices is discussed from two aspects: the exploration of energy and the exploitation of energy. The exploration of energy refers to harvesting energy from transmitted signals, providing a dependable energy source. The exploitation of energy, on the other hand, refers to an efficient tactic to use the accumulated energy based on location-aware clustering technology. Combining the two technologies, communication among location-aware devices is coordinated to be energy efficient and highly sustainable.