ELEE: Energy Levels-Energy Efficiency Tradeoff in Wired Communication Networks

Enhancing energy efficiency associated with the operation of communication network equipments has recently become a research goal. A key issue is that current equipment is constrained by technology limitations. Therefore, vendors need new mechanisms to be researched so that their equipment witness a reduction in energy consumption. This paper proposes the achievement of a tradeoff between the amount of energy that could be saved in wired networks and the discrete number of operational rate modes to be implemented in line cards by vendors. Results show that it is not necessary to manufacture line cards that support a large number of different operational rate modes, but that a limited number such as four different operational rate modes would be enough to achieve significant reductions in energy consumption.