The goal is to develop a set of algorithms to increase the energy efficiency of cellular wireless networks. These networks were originally designed without paying sufficient attention to their efficiency, calculated to be less than 10%. With cellular traffic increasing at exponential rates, the experts believe that in one decade the traffic will be 1000 times today's traffic. In the proposed research, a number of algorithms will be developed to improve energy efficiency. Examples are new modulation techniques, new link adaptation algorithms, or algorithms for the cellular network to adapt to changing traffic conditions such that cells with small traffic use only as much energy as needed, or cells shut down, their coverage to be taken over by their neighboring base stations. We analyze the contributions of a number of different techniques, and reach the conclusion that it is possible to reduce the energy consumption in the cellular network base stations to the 1.5-2% of its current levels.
The intellectual merit of this proposal is in redesigning the cellular network and improving its energy efficiency by several orders of magnitude. This will be achieved by a new set of tools, methods, and algorithms employing a different set of tradeoffs such as deployment, bandwidth, and possibly delay.
Broader Impact: Because the project relies on knowing a user's location, the project will enable location-based services. These are highly desired but cannot be implemented in today's networks. This project will build on our existing research, prototyping efforts, and an existing testbed.
