UAV-Enabled RF Sensor Wake-up

This paper discusses the design and implementation of an experimental test bed for radio frequency (RF) sensor wake-up. The test bed relies on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that selectively feeds a deployed sensor in a wireless sensor network for wake-up purposes. The telemetry signal of the UAV is harvested by a rectenna integrated within a sensor. As a result, the output DC voltage wakes-up the sensor out of a deep sleep mode. Several flight approaches are investigated and analyzed with vertical trajectory approaches exhibiting the most efficient energy collection.