Outage Analysis of Backscatter-Based Ambient IoT Device Classes with Energy Buffering
TL;DR
An analytical framework for evaluating the outage probability of ambient Internet of Things device classes communicating directly with a base station is presented and it is highlighted that the optimal device choice depends critically on the operating regime and application demands.
Abstract
This paper presents an analytical framework for evaluating the outage probability of ambient Internet of Things (A-IoT) device classes communicating directly with a base station. Device 1 is a passive backscatter device with minimal storage, while Device 2 is equipped with a supercapacitor that enables energy buffering and optional amplification. The proposed framework jointly accounts for carrier-detection sensitivity, energy harvesting constraints, supercapacitor energy dynamics, and an energy-aware amplification policy, while the energy evolution of buffered devices is modeled using a discrete-time Markov chain (DTMC). The results highlight the interplay between energy availability and communication reliability. Device 2 achieves superior performance in energy-rich regimes due to buffering and amplification gains, whereas Device 1 becomes more robust in energy-constrained regimes, particularly at larger distances or under high payload requirements. These findings highlight that the optimal device choice depends critically on the operating regime and application demands.