Robust Beamforming for SWIPT Systems with Non-linear Energy Harvesting Model

This paper investigates resource allocation for simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) downlink systems based on a non-linear energy harvesting model. The resource allocation algorithm design is formulated as a non-convex optimization problem for the maximization of the total harvested power. The proposed problem formulation not only takes into account imperfect channel state information (CSI) but also guarantees the quality-of-service (QoS) of information transfer. A novel iterative algorithm is proposed to obtain the globally optimal solution of the considered non-convex optimization problem. In each iteration, a rank-constrained semidefinite program (SDP) is solved optimally by SDP relaxation. Simulation results demonstrate the significant gains in harvested power and the robustness against CSI imperfection for the proposed optimal resource allocation, compared to a baseline scheme designed for perfect CSI and the conventional linear energy harvesting model.