Lifetime Maximization in Rechargeable Wireless Sensor Networks with Charging Interference

Radio Frequency based Wireless Power Transfer (RF-WPT) technology is recognized as a promising way to charge low-power wireless devices. But the application of RF-WPT in wireless sensor networks also introduces charging interference to wireless communications. The network lifetime maximization by jointly considering wireless charging and data transmission under interference concerns, however, has seldom been examined. In this paper, we take initial steps to consider communication and charger scheduling together in wireless sensor networks. We propose a smart interference-aware scheduling to maximize the network lifetime and avoid potential data loss caused by charging interference. The evaluation result indicates that the proposed design can guarantee 99% optimality and significantly improve network lifetime.