Analysis of power consumption in standalone 5G network and enhancement in energy efficiency using a novel routing protocol

• Published in: Sustainable Energy, Grids and Networks Grids and Networks, 2021-06, Vol.26, p.100427, Article 100427
• Main Authors: Sharma, Deepti, Singhal, Sanyam, Rai, Amrita, Singh, Amandeep
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 5G macro; Energy efficiency; Power consumption; Routing protocol; Shortest path algorithm; Standalone 5G
• ISSN: 2352-4677; 2352-4677
• DOI: 10.1016/j.segan.2020.100427

5G technology rollout has already begun across the world in non-standalone format alongside LTE (Long-Term Evolution) Macro structures. LTE has proven to be unsustainable in the long run. 5G electronic architecture is characterized by fewer transmissions in an always-on mode unlike LTE, where the sleep time is less than 1ms and thus LTE has a small proportion of fast activation components that are switched off in a DRX (Discontinuous reception) cycle. 5G structure has a large proportion of fast activation components that enable it to save energy in the idle state. However, in a standalone scenario, where 5G macros are used with an expected device density of 1 million per square kilometer against 2000 per square kilometer in LTE, the load on the base station in a cell sector would be tremendous. The load poses a great challenge towards the minimization of energy consumption and the sustainability of the entire network. Mitigation of dissipation is itself energy-intensive and threatening to the longevity of electronics involved. This paper proposes two modified power consumption models that would accurately depict the power consumption for a 5G base station in a standalone network and a novel routing protocol for distributing the load on the base stations in the case of intercellular communication. A trade-off between the latency and power consumption has been discussed to create a sustainable 5G network within a certain level of quality-of-service parameters.