Throughput Maximization in Backscatter Assisted Wireless Powered Communication Networks

Integrating backscatter communication into wireless powered communication networks (WPCNs) allows for more efficient utilization of the resources and improves the network performance. This paper studies a multiuser backscatter-assisted wireless powered communication network (BS-WPCN), where a set of energy-constrained users use the energy signal of the power source (PS) for two purposes: energy harvesting and hackscattering. Particularly, a harvest/backseatter-then-transmit (HBTT) protocol is presented, where the users first harvest energy and backscatter their modulated information to the access point (AP), and then transmit information to the AP by regular wireless information transmission using their harvested energy. We maximize the overall network throughput by finding the optimal time allocation for the energy transfer (ET) of the PS as well as the backscattering and information transmission (IT) of the users, under the energy storage constraint at the users. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme and the impact of related network parameters on the performance are explored via numerical simulations.