Framework for evaluating energy efficiency of access networks

The ever-growing number of Internet users, the introduction of new bandwidth-hungry applications and services as well as the vision of the Internet of Things will set very high requirements on future access networks. Already today there are many different coexisting network technologies and protocols in the access area that have been developed and introduced to fulfill different needs of Internet users and heterogeneous applications. The growing complexity and increasing energy consumption of access networks raise a need for a comprehensive and effective modeling framework that enables a fast projection of energy efficiency of different access network infrastructures. This paper presents a comprehensive framework that joins technological parameters and various configuration options with socio-demographic characteristics and varying user behavior. The modeling framework can be used to evaluate different deployment and migration scenarios for both wireless and wired access networks by means of predicted energy efficiency. Taking into account possible further developments on technology, applications and traffic characteristics, the modeling framework enables predictions on the access related energy demands raised by forecast trends in conjunction with accompanying equipment change options. This modeling framework may serve operators of access networks to select network migration paths that are effective in the short term and efficient in the long term.