The increasing energy consumption is a legacy of the fast improvement of ICT (Information and Communication Technology). It is also contrary to the current energy conservation and emission reduction con.
How much power does a 5G station use?
The power consumption of a single 5G station is 2.5 to 3.5 times higher than that of a single 4G station. The main factor behind this increase in 5G power consumption is the high power usage of the active antenna unit (AAU). Under a full workload, a single station uses nearly 3700W.
Is 5G more energy efficient than 4G?
Although the absolute value of the power consumption of 5G base stations is increasing, their energy efficiency ratio is much lower than that of 4G stations. In other words, with the same power consumption, the network capacity of 5G will be as dozens of times larger than 4G, so the power consumption per bit is sharply reduced.
Why does 5G use so much power?
The main factor behind this increase in 5G power consumption is the high power usage of the active antenna unit (AAU). Under a full workload, a single station uses nearly 3700W. This necessitates a number of updates to existing networks, such as more powerful supplies and increased performance output from supporting facilities.
What is a 5G base station?
A 5G base station is mainly composed of the baseband unit (BBU) and the AAU — in 4G terms, the AAU is the remote radio unit (RRU) plus antenna. The role of the BBU is to handle baseband digital signal processing, while the AAU converts the baseband digital signal into an analog signal, and then modulates it into a high-frequency radio signal.
Should a 5G power amplifier be combined with a power amplifier?
For 5G, infrastructure OEMs are considering combining the radio, power amplifier and associated signal processing circuits with the passive antenna array in active antenna units (AAU). While AAUs improve performance and simplify installation, they also require the power supply to share a heatsink with the power amplifier for cooling.
How to choose a 5G energy-optimised network?
Certain factors need to be taken into consideration while dealing with the efficiency of energy. Some of the prominent factors are such as traffic model, SE, topological distribution, SINR, QoS and latency. To properly examine an energy-optimised network, it is very crucial to select the most suitable EE metric for 5G networks.