Green radio: radio techniques to enable energy-efficient wireless networks

Abstract

Recent analysis by manufacturers and network operators has shown that current wireless networks are not very energy efficient, particularly the base stations by which terminals access services from the network. In response to this observation the Mobile Virtual Centre of Excellence (VCE) Green Radio project was established in 2009 to establish how significant energy savings may be obtained in future wireless systems. This article discusses the technical background to the project and discusses models of current energy consumption in base station devices. It also describes some of the most promising research directions in reducing the energy consumption of future base stations.

A technique for reducing data converters in MIMO systems

“…As a result, the proposed method can reduce 72% of the power consumption. 1 This data shows that the proposed method can significantly reduce the power consumption as well as the implementation area.…”

“…Referring to the data sheet of a commercial ADC, AD9445 [6], the power consumptions for 20 MHz and 80 MHz clock speeds are 1.6 W and 1.9 W, respectively. Assuming that the number of receiver antennas is 4, the conventional structure with 4 ADCs consumes 6.4 W while the proposed technique consumes 1 We neglect the power consumption associated with the digital circuits. only 1.9 W neglecting the power consumptions of the analog switch and the digital circuits.…”

Energy-Efficient Communication in Large Scale Antenna Systems: Impact of Variable User Capacity and Number of Transmission Antennas

“…Evidently, high power consumption and operational energy efficiency cost problems in the mobile networks and their BS infrastructure are becoming major problems for the governments, telecom industries, and scientific research communities at large. This situation explains, in a way, why ideas like "green radio communications concept" have arisen in recent time, as clearly seen in [2][3][4][5]. The use of massive multiple input multiple output (Ma-MIMO) systems, virtual MIMO systems, white spaces and adaptive resource management techniques are some of the envisioned ways to significantly reduce energy consumption in mobile cellular networks in literature.…”

Exploiting Small World Networks for Energy Efficiency in Network of Multi-Clock-Rate Wireless Devices

“…Due to the meteoric increase in traffic over wireless networks, and the consequent energy usage, coupled with the continuous rise in energy costs, Han et al (2011) deem it necessary that energy efficiency in future wireless radio devices be significantly improved. Moreover, wireless devices such as mobile phones and sensor nodes are mostly battery operated and have limited energy resources.…”