How to Cut the Electric Bill in Mobile Access Networks: A Mobile Operator's Perspective

Abstract: One of the major challenges that mobile operators are facing is the increasing power consumption costs as a consequence of the network densication experienced in current and future mobile access networks. This power increase causes both financial and environmental concerns to operators, since both the operational expenses and the CO2 emissions are affected. This Master Thesis investigates and analyses various deployment architectures in urban and suburban areas, considering both the radio access and backhaul segments, as well as system solutions that are expected to increase the energy efficiency of Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, such as Discontinuous Transmission - Discontinuous Reception (DTX-DRX) enhancement of future mobile networks. During this dissertation, it is investigated whether power efficient solutions can also be cost efficient in terms of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) in urban environments. Additionally, the DTXDRX enhancement of HetNets is studied on a dense urban case, providing both nancial and environmental benefits by its utilization. The main results indicate that significant power and TCO savings can be achieved by the deployment of Heterogeneous Networks in urban environments. Fiber optics backhauling seems to be more attractive compared to Microwaves in these areas. Finally, DTX-DRX enhanced HetNets result in high power savings and can be financially attractive under particular conditions.