Trends in Green Wireless Access Networks

Reducing CO2 emissions is an important global environmental issue. Over the recent years, wireless and mobile communications have increasingly become popular with consumers. Today's typical wireless access network consumes more than 50% of the total power consumption of mobile communications networks. Growth of mobile Internet service usage is expected to drive the growth in wireless access data rates and usage. The current rate of power consumption per unit of data cannot be sustained as we move towards broadband wireless access networks and anticipated increases in wireless data traffic. This paper, first, examines typical energy consumption in mobile communications networks and traffic trends, and it subsequently discusses target power consumption reduction for the evolving broadband wireless networks to be environmentally acceptable and sustainable. It describes several technologies that can contribute towards reaching this target.