Page 55 - European Energy Innovation - Winter 2016 publication

Winter 2016 European Energy Innovation
characteristics will need to satisfy
a plethora of different, often quite
unrelated, demands. This time it is not
simply about raising the data capacity
(though that will be important of
course) but also about supporting new
communication use cases.
The emergence of the Internet of
Things (IoT), in particular, will have
major implications, with many IoT
deployments having their own distinct
set of requirements. Remote sensor
nodes, responsible for monitoring a
certain parameter in smart cities for
example, or industrial M2M terminals,
may need the massive connectivity that
5G affords, but a high data rate will not
be of great value in this context. One
of the most significant factors here will
be keeping the power consumption
to an absolute minimum. These sensor
nodes will only be operational for
a very small proportion of the time
and the data they need to transmit
will be very modest. 5G must be
able to accommodate the minimal
throughput and irregular connectivity
that characterises this type of use
case, while operating within the power
constraints of sensor nodes whose
batteries must last up to 15 years.
NEW NETWORK STRUCTURES
The way that 5G networks are
constructed will be essentially different
from the approach of previous
generations. These new networks will
rely much more on the deployment
of pico, femto or moving cells, which
will effectively mean that the user is
brought a lot closer to the point of
transmission and the power needed to
transmit the signal will consequently be
lowered. Utilisation of the Cloud is also
expected to be of great importance.
Virtualization of network functions
promises to deliver both increased
flexibility and efficiency. This will mean efficiency will be challenging but
that rather than transmission being the
dominant component of overall power
consumption, there will be a shift to the
more manageable computational power
dimension (though this will also present
the industry with certain challenges).
www.europeanenergyinnovation.eu
55
35
Traffic in exabytes per month 30
25
20 21.7
15
10
5 2016* 2017* 2018*
3.7
0
2015
Figure 1: Global Mobile Traffic in Exabytes/Month [Source: Cisco]
The implementation of massive MIMO
(multiple-input, multiple-output)
transmission techniques will also prove
to be advantageous – compensating
path loss and enabling stronger signals
while consuming less energy. This,
along with adaptive beamforming,
could help to counter the limited range
of mm wavelength transmission (which
will begin to be employed to boost
data rates). Having enhanced the power
performance of the underlying network
technology, there will subsequently
be an opportunity to make greater use
of alternative energy sources, such
as photovoltaics, to supplement the
conventional power supply.
5G needs to furnish operators with
a business model that is sustainable
in terms of the financial investment
required and the day-to-day running
costs, as well as in relation to its long
term effect on the environment – so
that international legislative guidelines
can be met. The technical obstacles
that operators face in respect to power
are not insurmountable. Improved
energy efficiency needs to be a
consideration of each constituent part
of the proposed network technology,
covering everything from how the
system architecture is implemented
right through to facets of functional
5G COMMUNICATION
30.6
14.9
9.9
6.2
2019* 2020*
design. This will allow operators to
obtain the system-wide energy savings
they need.
As an organisation working to define
global standards that enable more
productive and environmentally
sustainable technology developments,
ETSI is focussing closely on energy
efficiency within the next generation
communication networks. ETSI has
recently embarked on an investigation
into possible new metrics for energy
efficiency within 5G systems. The
results are due to be published
in a Technical Report towards the
end of 2017. Meanwhile, 3GPP has
been actively involved in a study of
energy efficiency of mobile networks
taking in the implications of various
deployment scenarios, operating
conditions and coordinated energy
saving between different parts of the
network. ETSI and 3GPP are also heavily
engaged in determining the exact
system architecture and functional
requirements of the 5G standard and
methods of monitoring and controlling
power consumption will be at the heart
of this. l
Contact details:
www.etsi.org