Powering mobile networks with green energy

• Published in: IEEE wireless communications Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 90 - 96
• Main Authors: Han, Tao, Ansari, Nirwan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01-02-2014; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Air pollution; Applied sciences; Atmospheric pollution; Climate change; Computer science; control theory; systems; Computer systems and distributed systems. User interface; Energy; Equipments and installations; Exact sciences and technology; Generators; Green products; Mobile communication; Mobile computing; Mobile radiocommunication systems; Natural energy; Pollution; Pollution sources. Measurement results; Power demand; Power system dynamics; Radiocommunications; Software; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Energy analysis; Energy consumption; Communication network; Sustainable development; Modeling; Optimization; Carbon footprint; Dynamical climatology; Engineering design; Climate change; Electrical network; Greenhouse gas; Air pollution; Wireless network; Explosives; Mobile computing
• ISSN: 1536-1284; 1558-0687
• DOI: 10.1109/MWC.2014.6757901

Explosive mobile data demands are driving a significant growth in energy consumption in mobile networks, and consequently a surge of carbon footprints. Reducing carbon footprints is crucial in alleviating the direct impact of greenhouse gases on the earth environment and the climate change. With advances of green energy technologies, future mobile networks are expected to be powered by green energy to reduce their carbon footprints. This article provides an overview on the design and optimization of green energy enabled mobile networks, discusses the energy models for the analysis and optimization of the networks, and lays out basic design principles and research challenges on optimizing the green energy powered mobile networks.