December 2023
Towards Sustainable Networks: Attacking Energy Consumption in Wireless Infrastructure with Novel Technologies
by Kevin Chuang, Hossein Yektaii, Noureddine Outaleb, Ahmed Raslan, Shipra Bhal, Peadar Forbes
Abstract: This article focuses on sustainability of wireless telecommunications networks and suggests areas of research and development with the greatest potential impact in terms of Joules/bit. The telecommunications industry currently accounts for about 1.6% of global CO2 emissions with about 73% of total energy consumed by base stations, and energy consumption estimated to grow 160% in the decade from 2020 to 2030. Developments in MIMO antennas, power amplifier designs that require less power backoff, digital front ends that employ linearization algorithms and dynamic power scaling techniques relative to traffic demand all have the potential to significantly reduce energy consumption per bit in the radio access network.