Vitality consumption is without doubt one of the largest elements of OpEx, says AI-RAN Alliance Chair Alex Jinsung Choi
The discount of operation bills (OpEx) is a key precedence for telecom operators, and based on Alex Jinsung Choi, chair of the AI-RAN Alliance and principal fellow of SoftBank Corp.’s Analysis Institute of Superior Expertise, vitality consumption within the radio entry community (RAN) is without doubt one of the largest elements of OpEx.
“AI will play an enormous position in making RAN operations extra sustainable,” he advised RCR Wi-fi Information. Particularly, AI and machine studying (ML) can establish decrease community load and solely scaling up sources when needed, enabling telcos to fine-tune vitality utilization primarily based on real-time demand. “This sort of dynamic scaling can assist make sure that community efficiency targets are at all times met whereas considerably chopping down pointless vitality utilization,” mentioned Choi. “It’s not nearly utilizing much less vitality; it’s about utilizing the correct quantity of vitality on the proper time.”
One such instance is sensible radio frequency (RF) channel administration through which Information High quality Monitoring (DQM) — a type of reinforcement studying mannequin — is leveraged to offer dynamic RF channel reconfiguration, resulting in materials vitality financial savings. “Dynamically, we are able to change channels, cells and even sign ranges on and off primarily based on community visitors,” defined Choi, including that this method entails offloading customers to neighboring cells earlier than switching off sure cells to make sure seamless connectivity.
Nokia takes vitality effectivity to the ‘excessive’
Nokia’s method to vitality effectivity has been self-described as “excessive.” For example, the seller takes this concept of spinning community sources up and all the way down to mirror real-world visitors to the max with its Deep Sleep cell switch-off mode. This answer, introduced in February, leverages software program within the vendor’s AirScale Habrok Large MIMO radio items to scale back vitality consumption by as much as 97% in comparison with a cell on air however with out visitors. The corporate additionally has a ‘Zero visitors, zero vitality’ answer that switches off all radio sources when there may be zero visitors.
Moreover, ReefShark System-on-Chip (SoC), Nokia’s SoC expertise dynamically adjusts inner sources primarily based on visitors calls for, contributing to a 15% discount in vitality consumption. Vitality effectivity of the radio community software program options could be additional enhanced with the seller’s MantaRay Vitality answer, which automates and optimizes the configuration of the energy-saving software program options.
It was this final answer that Ed highlighted when talking with RCR Wi-fi Information. The Nokia MantaRay SON answer, he shared, faucets AI and ML to autonomously establish and tackle community inefficiencies by routinely switching off underutilized cell websites. “This could optimize the RAN vitality primarily based on the actual visitors sample,” he mentioned, including that Nokia additionally makes use of digital planning companies like digital twins to additional enhance efficiencies. “It’s all [to] enhance the vitality effectivity for your entire web site general.”
In July, stc Group deployed Nokia’s MantaRay Cognitive SON in its industrial community. Based on Nokia, stc’s community efficiently maintained constant connectivity regardless of visitors growing by 40% throughout the measured interval. Autonomous RAN operations additionally lowered handbook work and improved community high quality, the seller claimed.
Vodafone and Chunghwa Telecom, amongst others, are additionally utilizing the Noka MantaRay answer to realize a extra dynamic and vitality environment friendly RAN.
