A Green Communication Model for 5G Systems

Small cell networks (SCNs) are envisaged as a key technology enabling the fifth-generation (5G) wireless communication system to address the challenge of rising mobile data demand. Green communications will be another major attribute of 5G systems, as power consumption from the information and communication technology sector is forecast to increase significantly by 2030. Accordingly, energy-efficient SCN design has attracted significant attention from researchers in recent years. In addition, to enable the ubiquitous deployment of dense small cells, service providers require energy-efficient backhauling solutions. In this paper, we present an energy-efficient communication model for 5G heterogeneous networks (HetNets). The proposed model considers both the access and backhaul network elements. We formulate and present an analytical model to calculate the optimum number of small cells that need to be kept active at various times of the day in order to minimize power consumption while meeting users' quality of service demands. Based on our critical investigation of backhaul power consumption, we also isolate and present two energy-efficient backhauling solutions for 5G HetNets. Simulated results reveal that the proposed green communication model saves up to 48% more power than other existing models.