Resource allocation algorithm with worst case delay guarantees in energy harvesting body area networks

Abstract

In Body Area Networks, for energy harvesting-powered, managing the renewable energy to provide delay-sensitive services is of significant importance. In this paper, we propose an online algorithm to allocate resources, i.e., energy and channel, to maximize the user utility while guaranteeing the worst-case delay. To this end, we first formulate a user utility optimization problem, characterizing the stochastic nature of energy harvesting and energy consumption. Furthermore, a priori knowledge of any this processes is not required. Using Lyapunov optimization techniques, we decompose the problem into four sub-problems, i.e., battery management, collecting rate control, transmission power allocation and dropping rate control. Low-complexity online resource allocation algorithm is proposed to address these problems for user utility maximization, while we further analyze the performance of the online algorithm, in terms of the upper bounds of queues, required battery capacity, and the optimality of the proposed algorithm. Simulation results verify our analysis and the efficacy of the proposed algorithm.