Energy Management in Mobile Networks Towards 5G

The evolution of mobile networks from the introduction of the first generation systems until today, and the forecasts for the next decade [1], clearly indicate a growth of both the network itself in terms of installed equipment and carried traffic in terms of transmitted bits. The deployment of new generation systems upon existing ones unavoidably increases the energy consumption, even if new systems are more efficient than the older ones. More consumption means more costs, i. e., less margins for the operators, and greater carbon footprint from the entire Planet. On the other hand, for operators, it would not be possible to dismiss old generation systems in lieu of the new ones, due to the presence of legacy terminals in the network. For these reasons operators need to perform accurate assessment of the energy performance of 2G, 3G and 4G networks by looking in perspective at the evolution of the network in terms of traffic growth, change of paradigms/business models, introduction of next generation networks (i. e. 5G) and so on. This book chapter focuses on the energy efficiency aspects relevant for a sustainable evolution of mobile networks towards 5G from an operator perspective. The conducted analysis will cover both network deployment aspects, equipment evolution, introduction of energy efficiency features, cost analysis, network-level energy efficiency assessment and related standardization initiatives.