Battery-less wireless sensors powered directly by miniaturized energy harvesters can be appealing only if communication between nodes is realized without wasting energy. In devices that implement intermittent computing, efficient communications remain an open challenge. Transmitters should be aware of unavailable receivers to prevent packet losses due to power failures. Backscatter transmissions can be used to propagate the energy state almost for free in the surrounding. This paper presents a backscatter radio mechanism and a protocol that regulates the communication between nodes, guaranteeing packet transmissions only if sufficient energy is stored in the transmitter and the receiver. Simulation results demonstrate our approach's effectiveness and show the performance of this new type of intermittent communication. CCS CONCEPTS• Networks → Network simulations; • Computer systems organization → Sensor networks; • Hardware → Power and energy.

Self-sustainable energy harvesting for Internet of Things devices is challenging since ambient energy may be sporadic and unpredictable. This situation leads to frequent power failures that lead to intermittent operations, which prevent the reliability of data communications. This article presents fundamental hardware circuitry that enables reliable intermittent communications over wireless batteryless node networks. We emphasize two main mechanisms that ensure energy awareness and reliability: energy status-sharing and synchronized operation. We introduce novel low-power and self-sustainable plug-and-play circuits to support these mechanisms.

This paper presents a concrete solution for flying a lightweight drone completely without batteries. The drone can float upon a transmitting coil indefinitely and prevents from battery lifetime limitations, by exploiting a magnetic resonant coupling for wireless power transfer. We used a DC-DC converter to match the load impedance at the WPT. Finally, the overall achieved maximum efficiency is 40% measured over different distances.

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