Power consumption modeling of different base station types in heterogeneous cellular networks

TLDR

In wireless communications, micro cells can be more energy efficient than macro cells due to a higher path loss exponent, and heterogeneous deployments of both cell types can further optimize energy efficiency, but overall efficiency depends on each element’s power consumption and the relationship between transmit power and load. The study develops power models for macro and micro base stations based on data sheets of several GSM and UMTS units, focusing on component‑level elements such as power amplifiers and cooling equipment. The models are applied to compare a traditional macro cell deployment with a heterogeneous deployment, illustrating how the proposed power models can evaluate energy efficiency across different network configurations.

Abstract

In wireless communications micro cells are potentially more energy efficient than conventional macro cells due to the high path loss exponent. Also, heterogeneous deployments of both cell types can be used to optimize the energy efficiency. Energy efficiency of any deployment is impacted by the power consumption of each individual network element and the dependency of transmit power and load. In this paper we developed such power models for macro and micro base stations relying on data sheets of several GSM and UMTS base stations with focus on component level, e.g., power amplifier and cooling equipment. In a first application of the model a traditional macro cell deployment and a heterogeneous deployment are compared.