Improving the energy-efficiency of dense LTE networks by adaptive activation of cells

This study compares the performance of different LTE network densification alternatives from the daily energy consumption point of view. Furthermore, the performance of an energy saving scheme, where unnecessary capacity cells are switched off during low-traffic hours, is evaluated. The obtained results show that the densified macro network is the most energy-efficient deployment when no special energy saving schemes are assumed. Energy-efficiency of the heterogeneous deployments can be considerably improved either by targeting the low-power deployment towards the most traffic-heavy users, or with the help of fast cell DTX. The results demonstrate also that the scheme with a variable network deployment is efficient in reducing the daily energy consumption. With the help of variable network deployment the daily energy consumption becomes 23-38% lower than in case of a fixed network deployment. If both a 50% cell DTX scheme and variable network deployment are applied, the reduction in the daily energy consumption reaches 54-62%.