Modeling, Analysis and Simulation of Wireless Power Transfer

Abstract

The field of Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) is increasingly being applied to solve several energy issues, like the recharging of mobile devices and the prolonging of the lifetime of Wireless Sensor Networks and Internet of Things devices. However, there is a gap between the WPT and the wireless network simulations. Thus, the development of complex applications in the intersection of those fields is more difficult than it should be. In this work we describe a WPT simulator focused on resonant coupling transfer and provide it to public access. The simulator works either as a module for the ns-3 network simulator or as a standalone package that can be imported and used by common C++ programs. First, we provide the mathematical modeling and analysis behind the resonant inductive coupling. Next, we evaluate it and compare its output against real data experiments. Many areas can benefit from this work, including energy harvesting, wireless charging, and wireless power and communication systems co-design. In addition, we provide an example of usage of the module.