Transmission Capacity of Wireless Ad Hoc Networks with Energy Harvesting Nodes

Abstract: Transmission capacity of an ad hoc wireless network is analyzed when each node of the network harvests energy from nature, e.g. solar, wind, vibration etc. Transmission capacity is the maximum allowable density of nodes, satisfying a per transmitter-receiver rate, and an outage probability constraint. Energy arrivals at each node are assumed to follow a Bernoulli distribution, and each node stores energy using an energy buffer/battery. For ALOHA medium access protocol (MAP), optimal transmission probability that maximizes the transmission capacity is derived as a function of the energy arrival distribution. Game theoretic analysis is also presented for ALOHA MAP, where each transmitter tries to maximize its own throughput, and symmetric Nash equilibrium is derived. For CSMA MAP, back-off probability and outage probability are derived in terms of input energy distribution, thereby characterizing the transmission capacity.