Methods for Reducing the Energy Consumption of Mobile Broadband Networks

Up until recently, very little consideration has been given towards reducing the energy consumption of the networks supporting mobile communication. This has now become an important issue since with the predicted boost in traffic, network operators are required to upgrade and extend their networks, increasing also their overall energy consumption. However, traffic analysis shows that during a 24 hour period, the volume of carried traffic varies continuously, with the network operating anywhere close to its full capacity for very short periods of time. The problem is that during hours of low network traffic the energy consumption remains high. This article proposes two major solutions for mitigating this problem. In the first case, an energy saving between 14% and 36% is observed by allowing the network to dynamically optimize its available capacity based on the traffic being carried. In the second case, energy saving is obtained by reducing the amount of required network upgrades. This is done by accommodating increasing traffic during less busy hours, by providing an adequate incentive for subscribers to spread some of their daily traffic. Over a period of 5 years, besides saving on the investments, an energy reduction of 30% is also observed. In all investigations, the network performance is given priority and always maintained.