Energy efficiency is a critical issue in 5G. The potential to deploy systems in areas without a reliable energy source requires new methods of managing energy consumption not only in the UEs but throughout all components of the 5G system.
Small form factor UEs also typically have a small battery and this not only puts constrains on general power optimization but also on how the energy is consumed. With smaller batteries it is more important to understand and follow the limitations for the both the maximum peak and continuous current drain.
The 5G access network shall support an energy saving mode with the following characteristics:
the energy saving mode can be activated/deactivated either manually or automatically;
service can be restricted to a group of users (e.g. public safety user, emergency callers).
The 5G system shall support mechanisms to improve battery life for a UE over what is possible in EPS.
The 5G system shall optimize the battery consumption of a relay UE via which a UE is in indirect network connection mode.
The 5G system shall support UEs using small rechargeable and single coin cell batteries (e.g. considering impact on maximum pulse and continuous current).
Climate change and the rising consumption of energy motivate increased energy efficiency. Energy efficiency is a strategic priority for telecom operators around the world.
Energy efficiency as a service criteria allows services to be delivered with diverse energy efficiency and energy consumption policies. Energy consumption and efficiency information and network energy states can be exposed to third parties and energy consumption can be constrained.
Energy consumption can be monitored and considered through O&M as part of network operations [47], as well as a service criteria.
For best-effort traffic, that is, without QoS criteria, policies can be defined to limit energy use for services. This is not in conflict with the principle that performance policies will not be traded off for energy efficiency, since best-effort service has no performance guarantees.
Specifically, best-effort traffic can be subject to a policy that limits the maximum energy consumption over time, or further constrained by location (so that the energy consumption limit only applies when used in a specified service area.)
Additionally, policies can be defined with a maximum energy credit limit, e.g. for best-effort services to limit the total amount of energy consumption. These policies expand the options of subscription policies to control energy consumption in the 5G system.
Subject to operator's policy, the 5G system shall support subscription policies that define a maximum energy credit limit for services without QoS criteria.
Subject to operator's policy, the 5G system shall support a means to associate energy consumption with charging information based on subscription policies for services without QoS criteria.
Subject to operator's policy, the 5G system shall support a mechanism to perform energy consumption credit limit control for services without QoS criteria.
Subject to operator's policy, the 5G system shall support a means to define subscription policies and means to enforce the policy that define a maximum energy consumption (i.e. quantity of energy for a specified period of time) for services without QoS criteria.
Different energy states is beneficial for verticals and operators to save energy according to different working status of telecommunication equipment and manufacturing.
The 5G system shall support different energy states of network elements and network functions.
5G system shall support dynamic changes of energy states of network elements and network functions.
The 5G system shall support different charging mechanisms based on the different energy states of network elements and network functions.
Different levels of monitoring and measurement related to energy consumption and efficiency bring more support in energy efficiency and energy saving. In this section, monitoring and measurement related to energy consumption and efficiency include network functions under NPN condition and also all kinds of NG-RAN deployment scenarios.
Subject to operator's policy, the 5G network shall support energy consumption monitoring at per network slice and per subscriber granularity.
Subject to operator's policy and agreement with 3rd party, the 5G system shall be able to monitor energy consumption for serving this 3rd party.
Information related to energy consumption and efficiency is not only necessary for network internal optimization, but also will benefit the service adjustment for 3rd party.
Subject to operator's policy and agreement with 3rd party, the 5G system shall be able to expose information on energy consumption for serving this 3rd party.
Subject to operator's policy, the 5G system shall support a means to expose energy consumption to authorized third parties for services, including energy consumption information related to the condition of energy credit limit (e.g. when the energy consumption is reaching the energy credit limit).