Tag: Energy Efficiency

Recently, energy efficiency has been pointed out as one of the key requirements within mobile networks. The development of intelligent algorithms providing RAN with EE features is possible when having access to the KPIs, and proper control actions, e.g., cell on/off switching, or RF channel reconfiguration. These features together with a ML framework are available in the O-RAN architecture. This post provides an overview of the EE framework according to the use cases specified by the O-RAN ALLIANCE. It is followed by the implementation of the ES-rApp as per Rimedo Labs' implementation.

In the current heterogeneous mobile networks, traffic management is considered one of the key features to efficiently handle non-uniform user data. To realize this, the traffic steering function is employed, whose main task is to allocate users' traffic flows to network nodes or cells. O-RAN ALLIANCE provides means to support traffic steering through the utilization of Non- and Near-RT RIC frameworks and the accompanied rApps and xApps. This whitepaper provides an overview of the traffic steering topic in 5G mobile networks and how it fits into the O-RAN area. This is followed up by example implementations of the Traffic Steering xApp and its utilization for various use cases working in tandems with the corresponding rApps for energy saving and V2X scenarios.

This blog post discusses in detail two options for notification of the TS-xApp on the ES actions from the O-RAN specifications perspective. The first option is to utilize the A1 interface to send policies with a “FORBID” clause for cells that will be switched off, to indicate TS-xApp that users should be removed from this cell. The second approach is to utilize the E2SM-CCC, where the TS-xApp listens to the changes in O-CES Management Function.

Energy consumption is a critical aspect of any service in these modern times. In telecommunications, a flexible approach to network planning, control, and management is extremely beneficial in this aspect. The concept of O-RAN enables the creation of algorithms that allow energy saving in a manner independent of the equipment or RAN software solution used. In this blog post, we present an innovative approach to energy saving using the RIC, which is based on the direct cooperation of Traffic Steering xApp and Energy Saving rApp.

Recently, within the RAN domain, energy efficiency has been pointed out as one of the key requirements moving forward. It has been defined as end-to-end involving all domains within the O-RAN system. The overall objective for O-RAN is to gradually become more energy efficient than the regular RAN. This should not be at a cost of the key O-RAN concepts including cloudification and disaggregation. This whitepaper provides an overview of the energy efficiency topic in 5G mobile networks and how it fits into the O-RAN area. This is followed up by example algorithms utilizing ML schemes and their realization in the form of rApps based on O-RAN use cases.

In this blog post, we provide the description of an algorithm that can be realized as an rApp in the O-RAN architecture aimed at improving the network’s EE through intelligent RF channels on/off switching. First, we provide a general framework for long-timescale EE optimization which can be done in Non-RT RIC. We then propose the implementation of the RF Channel Switching algorithm within the O-RAN framework. Finally, we discuss some opportunities and challenges.