Home > Communication Service Provider Solutions > Enabling Telecom Transformation > Network-Based Energy Saving Opportunities in RAN for Improved TCO > Innovation for Network Energy Savings (NES)
Network energy consumption considerations, which are crucial for operators, are naturally focused upon RUs. Since NES strategies directly contribute to TCO savings, focusing efforts on energy-saving features (ESFs) related to RUs is a logical initial step for improving TCO for MNOs.
O-RAN’s NES use cases technical report [4] [5] represents energy-saving opportunities with a primary focus on O-RU operations. To address O-RAN’s objectives, key solution components include enabling ESFs to reduce network energy consumption, minimizing KPI impacts, and leveraging intelligent controllers. To reach the full potential of these savings, consumers of O-RAN-compliant systems must carefully evaluate their choice of O-RU hardware platforms, software, internal virtualized functions, and data-driven optimization modules, to form a comprehensive E2E implementation.
Certainly, earlier generation cellular networks employ power-saving strategies, such as shutting down power amplifiers, transceivers, and other network elements when network traffic allows. Despite the greater flexibility in signaling introduced for 5G, access to the internal workings of network elements remains a challenge. To date, ESF timing granularity has been too coarse to allow for meaningful energy savings. Combining protocol flexibility with network operational policy that can exploit a greater degree of timeliness has the potential to significantly increase savings.