Comparison of Power Consumption Models for 5G Cellular Network Base Stations

The increasing total energy consumption of information and communication technology (ICT) poses the challenge of developing sustainable solutions in the area of distributed computing. Current communication network technologies, such as wireless cellular networks, are required for applications and solutions in distributed computing and contribute significantly to the associated resource and energy demands of their operation. The energy consumption of cellular networks, specifically of the fifth generation of mobile network technology (5G), is a major sustainability concern for network operators. Consequently, it is an area of focus during the development of hardware and software products as well as the standardization of network architectures and protocols. In order to quantify and optimize the energy consumption of mobile networks, theoretical models are required to estimate the effect of relevant parameters on the total energy consumption. The first step when modeling the energy consumption of wireless communication systems is to derive models of the power consumption for the main system components, which are then combined with time-dependent traffic load models to estimate the consumed energy. This paper conducts a literature survey of relevant power consumption models for 5G cellular network base stations and provides a comparison of the models. It highlights commonly made assumptions and relations between available models and provides guidance for selection and categorization of a suitable model.