Main focus
According to publicly available data, base station power consumption account for approximately 200 to 500 GWh per year per operator in some European countries. In the UK, the mobile industry accounts for around 0.7% of CO2 emissions and each mobile subscriber is responsible for around 55.0 kg of CO2 per year. The main focus of the OPERA-NET project is to address the Power and Energy Efficiency Technology barrier to implement Next Generation Mobile Broadband Systems encompassing Terminal, Infrastructure and End to End Systems. The OPERA-Net consortium is covering the whole value chain, from component design to equipment development, deployment and full operation of mobile networks to ensure the best impact and allow the EU industry to take a leadership role in environmentally sustainable mobile networks.
The Power and Energy Efficiency technology roadblock within the Wireless Industry is not a new phenomenon. Historical evidence shows that the introduction of new wireless technologies and air interfaces have been significantly delayed due to initially unviable power efficiency demands. An example of this is the RF Power Amplifier with 3G systems which initially where introduced with an efficiency of <10% and the leading edge solutions today are still only in the 30-40% region. The RF power amplifier efficiency at the Base Station has a significant impact and saving’s of single digit Watts at the Radio Frequency transmitted level turn into Kilo Watts at the Base Station level and Giga Watts at the country level.
The most important facts and elements of the project outcome will be as follows:
· The fundamental premise is that the efficiency of these individual system elements is highly inter-related, and in order to achieve the radical efficiency improvements envisaged, these must be considered in unison.
· The project will address the following criteria and objectives:
§ Radical improvement in energy efficiency at system, infrastructure and terminal levels
§ Develop metrics and Key Performance Indicators for mobile network efficiency to direct
development & stimulate competition for efficiency through easy system comparability
§ Enable EU industry to take leadership in environmentally sustainable mobile networks
Approach
The project is organised as a set of task forces, with following Main Technical Level ideas:
· Mobile Radio Access Network E2E: Define KPI for energy efficiency, Improve power
efficiency from the management of : cell sizes, sleep-mode, MAC, DC power, cooling
system, etc.
· Link level : optimization techniques for Link-level power efficiency, energy-aware device
(terminals & infrastructure) design. Find innovative technological interface configuration
solutions to achieve Ecologic and Economic gains
· Technology enablers : Develop new high-efficiency power amplifier architectures for base stations and prototype novel energy recovery systems
· Network test bed system model and demonstrator validated in a real environment with true cross level approach from Terminal to System to End-to-End Network.
Main results
Major outcome results expected from Opera-Net are:
· Radical reduction of Power envelope to enable viable implementation of new technologies.
· Increased power efficiency ratio of Output utilized power to Input supply power.
· Reduction of Operational and Capital Expenditure (OPEX & CAPEX)
· Reduction of consumed Power to address Environmental requirements
· All results will be disseminated through Standardisation bodies, white papers, articles in relevant press, Conferences, Seminars, Shows, Exhibitions, Demonstrations and elsewhere it will be necessary depending on opportunities.
Impacts
The project expected impacts are:
· Power efficiency improvements for future air interfaces. Bring innovation gain by solving the power technology barrier
· Adjacent industries and segments within Europe leveraging Wireless broadband to enable accelerated Social & Economic growth; examples: Media, Health, Security, Internet, etc.
· Environmental-friendly ICT solutions, enabling Europe to drive global standardisation in this area.