Performance Analysis of Nonlinear Energy-Harvesting DF Relay System in Interference-Limited Nakagami-m Fading Environment

A decode-and-forward system with an energy-harvesting relay is analyzed for the case when an arbitrary number of independent interference signals affect the communication at both the relay and the destination nodes. The scenario in which the relay harvests energy from both the source and interference signals using a time switching scheme is analyzed. The analysis is performed for the interference-limited Nakagami-m fading environment, assuming a realistic nonlinearity for the electronic devices. The closed-form outage probability expression for the system with a nonlinear energy harvester is derived. An asymptotic expression valid for the case of a simpler linear harvesting model is also provided. The derived analytical results are corroborated by an independent simulation model. The impacts of the saturation threshold power, the energy-harvesting ratio, and the number and power of the interference signals on the system performance are analyzed.