Green Network Fundamentals

Efficient energy usage in wireless networks has drawn significant attention from both academia and industry, mainly because of critical environmental, financial, and quality‐of‐experience (QoE) concerns. Research efforts have led to various solutions that allow efficient use of energy in wireless networks. Such approaches are referred to as green wireless communication and networking. In order to develop and analyse a green network solution, an appropriate definition of energy efficiency and consumption for network operators and mobile users should be adopted. Such a definition is based on the traffic load condition, power consumption, and throughput for network operators and mobile users. In addition, the green network solution should satisfy some target performance metrics. This chapter explores energy efficiency and consumption definitions, as well as power consumption, throughput, and traffic load models for network operators and mobile users, along with conflicting performance metrics.