Pulsed Battery Discharge in Communication Devices

Abstract

The overall objective of this work is to explore ways in which the energy efficiency of communications can be enhanced through the use of communication protocols that exploit the charge recovery mechanism inherent to many secondary storage batteries. In the first part of this paper, we summarize the behavior of electrochemical energy cells. We compile results that pertain to the capacity of a cell and its dependence on the intensity of the discharge current. The phenomenon of charge recovery that takes place under bursty or pulsed discharge conditions is identified as a mechanism that can be exploited to enhance the capacity of a cell. The bursty nature of many data trafllc sources suggests that there may be a natural fit between the two. In the second part of this manuscript, we explore thii synergy by developing a stochastic model that tracks charge recovery in conjunction with bursty discharges due to transmissions driven by Bernoulli arrivals. We derive the resulting capacity advantage relative to constant discharge as a function of the burstiness of the arrival for two discharge scenarios.