Dynamic and static base station management schemes for cellular networks

Abstract

The problem of energy management of base stations in cellular networks is addressed following the recent 3GPP regulations towards traffic proportional energy consumption of 3G and B3G networks. The paper explores energy consumption of different cellular architectures and explores dynamic and static base station management schemes. The static approach is a centralized algorithm where the mobile operator can switch on/off a certain pattern of cells in the system, in an offline fashion. The dynamic approach is an online centralized or distributed algorithm that enables a binary change of the state of operation of the micro base stations (μ-BSs) according to traffic characteristics. A novel pseudo distributed dynamic management scheme is proposed where μ-BSs are managed under the administrative domain of critical stations used to maintain coverage during low peak hours. In this approach, named as Hybrid management, QoS is guaranteed during network transitions and communication overheads are reduced, compared to the centralized algorithm, rendering the proposed technique suitable for real implementations. Finally, the pseudo distributed algorithm is compared to the distributed one where μ-BSs decide locally on their state of operation, independently of the critical stations. It is found that the network can self optimize its own operation in terms of energy savings, without sacrificing QoS. Cost of services and carbon emissions of the mobile operators are consequently reduced.