Bee system-based energy efficient base station operation in mobile cellular networks

Abstract

Ubiquitous communication is being envisioned as the daunting feature in the next generation of cellular networks. However, it comes with the price tag of humungous energy consumption, a significant fraction of which is due to the base stations within a service area. In this paper, we propose a cooperation technique among base stations in a cellular network that reduces their energy consumption. Our algorithm is based on nature-inspired computing, especially the bee system. In our proposed algorithm, all base stations within a given area work together to provide a better quality of experience (QoE) to a mobile user. A base station first checks for availability of unutilized (or underutilized) bandwidth. If the availability is over a certain threshold, all base stations will perform a reunion procedure to provide a uniform distribution of the consumed bandwidth (bandwidth load), thereby providing better service to users. We have also formulated a novel analysis technique to determine the effectiveness, efficiency and scalability of the proposed scheme. Our results show-case the fact that our algorithm indeed yields higher energy efficiency at the base stations when compared to traditional schemes.