A novel power allocation technique for 4G cellular networks

In this paper, we investigate the problem of power optimization at base stations in 4G networks based on the available instantaneous channel state information. We focus on minimizing the power consumed at the base station end, whereas much of the power optimization-related work in the literature today is targeted at the mobile end. Further, a common feature of most existing base station adaptation algorithms is that they are for peak traffic scenarios. In contrast, our algorithm is for off-peak hours such as nights and weekends and we try to minimize power consumption during those times. We first present a simple and tractable formulation for base station power optimization based on 4G specifications. The novel formulation is based on heuristically partitioning the problem into three steps, each of which has a tractable and practical solution. Our simulations show that the proposed technique can achieve up to 20% reduction in power consumption over the baseline scheme. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm is compatible with 4G standards.