Throughput Maximization for the Gaussian Relay Channel With Energy Harvesting Constraints

This paper considers the use of energy harvesters, instead of conventional time-invariant energy sources, in wireless cooperative communication. For the purpose of exposition, the authors study the classic three-node Gaussian relay channel with Decode-and-Forward (DF) relaying, in which the source and relay nodes transmit with power drawn from Energy-Harvesting (EH) sources. Assuming a deterministic EH model under which the energy arrival time and the harvested amount are known prior to transmission, the throughput maximization problem over a finite horizon of N transmission blocks is investigated.