Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
in Business-Critical Continuity
Network
USA
Verizon 2006
Japan
NTT 2001
Italy
France
Spain
Telefonica 2006
Energy
% of Country Total
Consumption Energy Consumption
8.9 TWh
6.6 TWh
0.24%
0.7%
2 TWh
1%
2 TWh
0.4%
1.42 TWh
0.6%
Energy Consumption in
Telecommunications Networks
The potential efficiency gains through Energy Logic are significant
reducing consumption by nearly 60 percent at the base station
and 40 percent at the central office. But to fully appreciate those
numbers, its important to understand just how much energy telecommunications networks are using.
In Table 1, we look at energy consumption for five major telecom
providers around the world. They account for nearly 21 TeraWatt
hours (TWh) annually. One TWh equals 1 million megaWatt hours
(1 megaWatt = 1 million Watts). The Three Mile Island nuclear
power plant produces 7 TWh each year, so it would take three of
those nuclear plants just to power those five telecom providers.
By extrapolation, estimates indicate the telecom industry consumed 164 TWh last year, or about 1 percent of the global energy
consumption of the planet. That equates to 15 million U.S. homes
and matches the CO2 emissions of 29 million cars. In fact, the U.S.
EPA estimates a 10 percent reduction in energy use by telcos could
save the industry more than $200 million a year and prevent 2 million tons of CO2 emissions[6].
But reducing energy consumption is a challenge when consumer demand for telecommunications services is skyrocketing.
Broadband subscriptions are growing at a rate of 14 percent
annually and require 4 to 8 times more energy than basic telecom
service. Fiber-to-the-home deployments recently topped 3 million
in North America an increase of more than 100 percent since last
year (RVA Associates for the Fiber to the Home Council). Internet
traffic is increasing by 60 percent annually[7], due in large part to
growing demand for Internet-based VoIP, video streaming, and
movie and video downloads. On the wireless side, the industry is
on its way to 3 billion connected devices, with high-speed data
being the ultimate objective. All of these services drive up energy
consumption within the network.
Wireless Networks
The wireless network can be viewed in two major sections: the
operators part, which includes the Mobile Switching Center
(MSC) and Radio Base Station (RBS), and the subscribers part,
normally limited to the handheld device. Estimates indicate more
than 90 percent of wireless network energy consumption comes
from the operators[8]. With approximately 4 million installed Base
Transceiver Station (BTS) cabinets in the world today and an estimated double-digit growth rate, the impact of any energy savings
at this point is significant.
In identifying opportunities to reduce energy consumption at
these sites and assessing the impact of various strategies, we used
a typical RBS a 3 sector Omni as the model. It is the same
model analyzed and presented in Ericssons August 2007 white
paper, Sustainable energy use in mobile communications, which
looked at telecom energy efficiency strategies. In fact, two of the
strategies presented here come from that paper.
But before discussing the strategies, it is important to understand
some characteristics of this RBS. More than 60 percent of the
power used by the RBS is consumed by the radio equipment and
amplifiers, 11 percent is consumed by the DC power system and
25 percent by the cooling equipment an air conditioning unit
typical of many such sites. Under these conditions, it takes 10.3
kW of electricity to produce only 120 Watts of transmitted radio
signals and process the incoming signals from the subscriber cell
phones. From a system efficiency perspective (output power/input
power), this translates into an efficiency of 1.2 percent.
(1170W)
DC Power
System
AC
m
Cooling
Antenna
(120W)
Feeder
(120W)
RF conversion
& Power
Signal
Processing
Amplifi
catio
& Control
RF Feeder
loss
-1.0W
RBS Power
Amplification
(2190W)
Saves an additional
17.3W here
(4160W)
-18.3W
-18.3W
DC
Power
System
and 3.3W here
Power with no
Cumulative Saving
-21.6W
Cooling
and 7.1W here
-28.7W
RF Load 1.2%
Feeder 1.2%
Cooling
25%
DC Power
11.3%
Radio
Equipment
61.4%
1 W saved at:
RF Load
1W 28.7W
Signal & PC
1W
1.6W
PA Circuit
1W
1.6W
DC Power System
1W
1.3W
Cooling
1W
1.0W
The power plant feeding this load runs at only 85 percent efficiency, well below its peak level. This is the result of the low
utilization of the rectifiers and some system-level losses.
In our model, saving 1 Watt in the feeder cables saves 17.3 Watts of
modulation and amplification losses, 3.3 Watts of rectification losses
and 7.1 Watts of associated cooling energy (Figure 3). In aggregate,
this represents a 28X cascading benefit, with smaller benefits also
occurring in signal processing and DC power. For these reasons,
efforts must start closer to the antenna, where they yield greater
benefits and enable reduction in cooling and power requirements.
Cascaded Savings
(W)
%
Strategy
Today
Tomorrow...
120
3,429
33.1%
416
660
6.4%
Passive cooling
Environment-friendly
cooling
1,179
1,179
11.4%
Dynamic adjustment
315
315
3.0%
272
272
2.6%
94% DC system
188
188
1.8%
6,042
58.4%
Telecom Equipment
efficiency
Normal
RBS power
consumption
Antenna
With ECO
operation
Typical traffic
load variation
(city site)
AC
DC Power
System
Optical
Fiber
2% GoS
dimensioning
line
Source: Ericsson
m
Cooling
Signal Processing
& Control
3. Passive cooling
Historically, air conditioners have been the preferred choice for
radio sites, but those AC units require power equivalent to 34 percent of the heat load produced inside the RBS. For example, if the
RBS produces 1,000 Watts of heat load, the power consumed by
the AC will be 0.34 x 1000, or 340 Watts. They also are noisy and
maintenance-intensive.
Depending on the geographic location and willingness to trade
energy savings for some battery life, other cooling strategies such
as free ventilation, forced fan cooling with hydrophobic filtering or
heat exchangers will change the energy consumption significantly
and often yield a lower total cost of ownership (TCO).
Applying a TCO analysis to a battery cabinet located in the state of
New York, where the climate is moderate and the sites are generally easy to access, shows a savings of $4,800 over a 10-year period
by using free ventilation instead of air conditioning. Eliminating
electricity costs provides the bulk of the savings with free cooling,
but maintenance and replacement costs for the batteries also are
lower than maintenance costs with the AC system.
Although it is estimated that passive cooling can provide energy
savings of 10 percent or more, not all scenarios favor free cooling.
Each RBS should be evaluated independently to identify opportunities to achieve those savings and the overall lower TCO.
4. Advanced climate control for air conditioners
If an air conditioner remains necessary, energy consumption can
be minimized by triggering operation at a higher temperature. The
higher set point not only ensures the unit will be turned on less frequently, the higher temperature delta at the air exchange enables
improved operational efficiency.
A 10-site trial conducted from May to September 2007 reduced
total cooling costs by 14 percent by allowing a wider fluctuation
between 31C and 26C (Figure 6). Of course, raising the internal
22.60%
20.80%
20.00%
92%
21.10%
17.30%
14.90%
15.00%
12.20%
11.50%
10.00%
6.20%
7.10%
6.40%
5.00%
90%
14% average energy
savings over trial
period
88%
86%
Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 5 Site 6 Site 7 Site 8 Site 9 Site 10
Rectifier
efficiency curve
84%
82%
0.00%
Resulting DC
System efficiency
94%
Energy Savings
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90% 100%
12000
Distribution of Savings
Power
System
8%
10000
10000
8000
8000
6000
6000
-33%
-33%
4000
-40%
-40%
-43%
-54%
-58%
-54%
-57%
Power
SystemCooling
25%
8%
-58%
Radio
Equipment 68%
0
Traditional
2000
Cooling
25%
Radio
Equipment 68%
-43%
2000
4000
-57%
Distribution of Savings
Radio Equipment
Base Band
Cooling
0
Traditional
ing ECO mode (i.e. radio standby mode), which reduces the load
when traffic is low, the savings and ROI are affected negatively by
5 percent.
Cooling
RBS summary
Energy consumption at the RBS is a major industry issue, but
opportunities for reductions of more than 50 percent are readily
available (Figure 8).
n
On the radio side, going to a remote radio concept and applying the radio ECO mode functionality will reduce energy
consumption by 40 percent.
Technology
Watts/subs.
Dial-up
1.2
0.064
ADSL2
1.54
25
VDSL2
2.75-3
50
GPON
0.17
75
E-FTTH
3.3
100
Energy
Consumption
Telecom Equipment
53
kW
IT Equipment 1
Broadband Equipment
kW
20
kW
Lighting
kW
17
kW
64
kW
kW
167
kW
Cooling
38%
Telco
32%
DC Broadband
12%
Power
10%
ITE 3%
Wireline Networks
Wireline networks are in the middle of dramatic structural changes
that affect how and when various strategies for reducing energy
consumption can be applied. Transitioning circuit switching to
packet switching implies new equipment overlays to enable service
continuity are forthcoming. Broadband access technology choices
also affect how the network will be shaped. Table 4 shows the
power draw per subscriber using different broadband technologies.
With the exception of GPON, a passive optical technology in
the early stages of adoption, the trend is clear: the higher the
bandwidth, the more power is required. In fact, the short- and
medium-term energy consumption of the wireline network will
increase for at least three reasons:
n
-1.16W
DC-DC
Saves an
additional
0.16W here
-1.21W
Distribution
-1.42W
DC Power
System
Cumulative Saving
-2.35W
Cooling
and 0.93W here
-2.42W
Switchgear/
Transformer
and 0.07W here = -2.42W
1
2
3
4
5
Strategy
Energy savings mode in
Telco and IT equipment
DC Powered
IT Equipment
Implement cooling
best practices
Supplemental High
Density Cooling
Replace legacy rectifiers
Description
Energy savings mode
implemented
Eliminate inverters
>3kW/rack: optimized Cold Aisle,
No Mixing of Hot and Cold Air
Cooling at the load
New generation rectifiers:
93% efficiency
New generation rectifiers:
93% efficiency
Savings Cascaded
(kW) Savings(kW)
%
9.9
24.3
14.6%
1.4
2.8
1.7%
16.4
16.9
10.2%
10.7
11.0
6.0%
5.2
7.1
4.3%
1.6
2.2
1.3%
64.3
38.6%
As is the case with the wireless model, the cascade effect exponentially increases energy savings in the central office. As shown
in Figure 10, 1 Watt saved in the telco equipment generates an
additional 0.16 Watts saved from the internal DC-DC converter (86
percent efficiency), 0.05 Watts from the distribution (96 percent
efficiency), 0.21 Watts from the DC power system (85 percent efficiency), 0.9 Watts from the cooling, and 0.07 Watts from the input
AC switchgear, resulting in 2.42 Watts saved in total.
Energy savings farther from the AC grid yield the highest returns.
In our model, the greatest results are achieved with energy-saving
actions on the load. Cooling is the other major element that can
be optimized.
ADSL2+
VDSL2
Today
Full
Power
Mode
1.5
Low
Power
Mode
Standby
Mode
0.4
2009
1.2
0.8
Today
2.75
2009
1.6
1.2
0.8
AC
Utility
-48V
AC/DC DC/DC
DC/AC
Inverter
Battery
DC Power Plant
DC Power Plant
AC/DC DC/DC
PSU
IT Equpiment
VR
Loads
VR
58%
DC Power
AC
Utility
-48V
AC/DC DC/DC
DC/DC
Battery
PSU
IT Equpiment
DC Power Plant
Energy Efficiency = 92% 90%
VR
Loads
VR
83%
2. DC-Powered IT Equipment
Any power converter has an operational inefficiency related to
heat losses that must be addressed by the cooling mechanism.
Minimizing the number of power converter stages in an equipment
room should be a top priority when trying to limit energy consumption in a central office.
Telco providers are introducing new equipment to the network
environment, some of which traditionally has been used in data
centers. Inverters have been the simple powering option, converting DC power from the power plant to AC power that then is
pushed to the IT equipment. Typically, inverter power accounts for
10 percent of the power budget in a central office and more than
10
4,000
NEBS/ETSI
ASHRAE
Woorkstations
(standalone)
UP$PQFSBUJOH
UFNQFSBUVSF
UP$PQFSBUJOH
UFNQFSBUVSF
Tape Storage
Systems
UPSFMBUJWF
IVNJEJUZ
$GPS
PQUJNBMSFMJBCJMJUZ
NEBS
UPSFMBUJWF
IVNJEJUZ
2,000
1,000
800
600
400
200
100
80
60
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
Pressurize the cold aisle or use return air ducting for hot
air containment
n Isolate
Use Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) for air handling unit fans
(reducing fan speed by 20 percent reduces power consumption by 50 percent)
11
92%
90%
Legacy Rectifier
88%
86%
84%
82%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Table 9 shows the annual energy savings related to such an equipment change. The same 100A rectifier model is used, and different
load factors are considered. At US$0.10/kWh, the savings add up
quickly. In our model, this strategy provides the highest savings
potential related to DC power actions, with 4.2 percent of the
total savings.
12
1200
Number of rectifiers:
600
3400
1,019 $
14
2,071 $
1,968 $
20
2,630 $
2,615 $
2,952 $
26
2,916 $
3,101 $
3,502 $
3,936 $
32
2,916 $
4,142 $
3,922 $
4,699 $
4,920 $
38
2,916 $
5,259 $
3,922 $
4,211 $
5,638 $
5,905 $
44
2,916 $
5,259 $
4,652 $
4,211 $
6,537 $
7,003 $
4200
6,869 $
-15%
-16%
140.0
-26%
-33%
120.0
-37%
-38%
New Gen
Rectifiers
DC System
ECO Mode
100.0
80.0
60.0
Applying these six Energy Logic strategies to the central office can
reduce energy consumption by nearly 40 percent (Figure 14).
40.0
0.0
20.0
Telco Load
DC
IT Load
Cooling
Best
Practices
HD
Cooling
Lighting
Cooling
Switchgear
13
14
Conclusion
References
[1]
[2
[3]
n France
Telecom is planning to reduce the greenhouse emissions per customer by 20 percent between 2006 and 2020
Using Energy Logic for Telecommunications strategies can generate savings of close to 60 percent in the wireless network and 40
percent in wireline. In the case of the RBS alone, this translates to
potential global savings of 11.8 TW of demand or US$10.3
trillon per year.
All of this is possible through these 12 basic Energy Logic strategies, which can be summarized in a few simple guidelines:
n
[8]
Power consumption and energy efficiency of fixed and mobile telecom systems,
Hans-Otot Sheck, ITU-T, April 2008
Savings further away from the AC grid yield the most returns
n Be
n Implement
Again, the key is addressing the issue with a clear and defined
approach that optimizes results. Looking at energy consumption at
the network level and considering energy-saving actions holistically
is the key to Energy Logic for Telecommunications and to successful energy conservation.
15
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Code: ES-113
September 2008