Are green cellular base stations sustainable?

This study presents an overview of sustainable and green cellular base stations (BSs), which account for most of the energy consumed in cellular networks. We review the architecture of the BS and the power consumption model, and then summarize the trends in green cellular network research over the past decade.

What is a green base station solution?

The green base station solution involves base station system architecture, base station form, power saving technologies, and application of green technologies. Using SDR-based architecture and distributed base stations is a different approach to traditional multiband multimode network construction.

What should a base station do in a wireless communications network?

In a wireless communications network, the base station should maintain high-quality coverage. It should also have the potential for upgrade or evolution. As network traffic increases, power consumption increases proportionally to the number of base stations. However, reducing the number of base stations may degrade network quality.

What is the impact of base stations?

The impact of the Base Stations comes from the combination of the power consumption of the equipment itself (up to 1500 Watts for a nowadays macro base station) multiplied by the number of deployed sites in a commercial network (e.g. more than 12000 in UK for a single operator).

What is a green communication initiative?

The green communication initiative primarily aims to improve the energy efficiency, reduce the OPEX, and eliminate the GHG emissions of BSs to guarantee their future evolution [ 2, 3 ]. Cellular network operators attempt to shift toward green practices using two main approaches.

Are cellular network operators moving towards green cellular BS?

Figure 10 reveals that many cellular network operators in the world have still not shifted toward green cellular BS. Most of these operators are located in developing countries with limited electricity supply and unreliable electric grids. The financial issues in these countries must be investigated further. 4.5.