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This technical report focuses on energy-saving technology of base stations. Some energy saving technologies since 4G era will be explained in details, while artificial intelligence and big data technology will be introduced in response to the requirement of an intelligent and self-adaptive energy saving solution.
Therefore, low-carbon upgrades to communication base stations can effectively improve the economics of local energy use while reducing local environmental pollution and gaining public health benefits. For this research, we recommend further in-depth exploration in three areas for the future.
A small-scale communication base station communication antenna with an average power of 2 kW can consume up to 48 kWh per day. 4,5,6 Therefore, the low-carbon upgrade of communication base stations and systems is at the core of the telecommunications industry’s energy use issues.
There are two main methods of base station energy saving, including hardware and software.
A flywheel-storage power system uses a flywheel for grid energy storage, (see Flywheel energy storage) and can be a comparatively small storage facility with a peak power of up to 20 MW. It typically is used to stabilize to some degree power grids, to help them stay on the grid frequency, and to serve as a short-term compensation storage.
A grid-scale flywheel energy storage system is able to respond to grid operator control signal in seconds and able to absorb the power fluctuation for as long as 15 minutes. Flywheel storage has proven to be useful in trams.
In 2010, Beacon Power began testing of their Smart Energy 25 (Gen 4) flywheel energy storage system at a wind farm in Tehachapi, California. The system was part of a wind power and flywheel demonstration project being carried out for the California Energy Commission.
China has the largest grid-scale flywheel energy storage plant in the world with 30 MW capacity. The system was connected to the grid in 2024 and it was the first such system in China. In the United States, Beacon Power operates two 20 MW grid-scale flywheel energy storage plants in Stephentown, New York and Hazle Township, Pennsylvania.
5G base station architecture is characterized by its flexibility, virtualization, and the ability to support diverse services through network slicing. The separation of CU and DU, along with the introduction of cloud-based technologies, allows for more efficient resource utilization and scalability.
5G networks divide coverage areas into smaller zones called cells, enabling devices to connect to local base stations via radio. Each station connects to the broader telephone network and the Internet through high-speed optical fiber or wireless backhaul.
With the rapid development of 5G mobile communication technology, the number of 5G users has significantly increased, leading to a corresponding expansion in network capacity . To meet the growing user demand, researchers have begun to focus on improving the throughput of base stations (e.g. Refs. [2, 3]).
It is known that there are 20 3/4G shared base stations in this area. According to Section 5, the number of base stations in general urban areas ranges from 20 to 36. Therefore, in the simulation experiment, the optimal results of the base station layout are shown in Table 10. Table 10. Layout results of 5G base station in general urban areas.
