Energy Harvesting-Aware Backoff Algorithms for Distributed Device-to-Device Communication

Due to limited energy capacity in mobile devices, energy harvesting is regarded as a promising technology for lifetime extension in device-to-device (D2D) communication. However, medium access control (MAC) protocols designed for D2D communication intrinsically do not consider the existence of harvested energy. In this paper we study four backoff (BO) algorithms, among which one algorithm is proposed to enhance the BO selection based on energy harvesting rate and residual energy of devices. Simulations are performed in order to assess how the proposed algorithm can extend the lifetime of a D2D communication network as well as to provide fair channel access opportunities among devices.