A Power Efficiency Metric for Comparing Energy Consumption in Future Wireless Networks in the Millimeter-Wave and Terahertz Bands

Future wireless cellular networks will utilize millimeter-wave and sub-THz frequencies and deploy small-cell base stations to achieve data rates on the order of hundreds of gigabits per second per user. The move to sub-THz frequencies will require attention to sustainability and reduction of power whenever possible to reduce the carbon footprint while maintaining adequate battery life for the massive number of resource-constrained devices to be deployed. This article analyzes power consumption of future wireless networks using a new metric, a figure of merit called the power waste factor (
$W$
), which shows promise for the study and development of “green G” - green technology for future wireless networks. Using
$W$
, power efficiency can be considered by quantifying the power wasted by all devices on a signal path in a cascade. We then show that the consumption efficiency factor (CEF), defined as the ratio of the maximum data rate achieved to the total power consumed, is a novel and powerful measure of power efficiency which shows that less energy per bit is expended as the cell size shrinks and carrier frequency and channel bandwidth increase. Our findings offer a standard approach to calculating and comparing power consumption and energy efficiency.