Evaluation of ON-OFF schemes and linear prediction methods for increasing energy efficiency in mobile broadband networks

Nowadays, energy efficiency has become a major issue in mobile networks operation. Due to the exponential rise in the number of wireless Internet-connected mobile devices reducing electrical energy consumption is not only a matter of showing environmental responsibility, but also of substantially reducing their operational expenditure. However, energy reduction cannot be pursued at any cost and appropriate service has to be supported. Among the diverse hardware and software solutions available, this paper focuses on the dynamic operation of cellular base stations, in which redundant base stations are switched off during periods of low traffic. Besides, we are also describing the use of prediction mechanisms in order to make a proper decision on when to take that action. The proposed schemes are assessed by means simulations using both theoretical and real load models.