Towards Energy- and Cost-Efficient 6G Networks

TL;DR

This work investigates energy-efficient optimization for 6G networks aided by network-controlled repeaters (NCRs). It develops direct and indirect (NCR-supported) system models with TR_NES-based power consumption and derives EE expressions that guide parameter optimization (bandwidth, transmit power, and antenna counts) for both topologies. The study analyzes fixed and varying PA efficiency regimes and demonstrates, through link-level and system-level simulations, that NCRs can substantially improve overall energy efficiency and coverage, albeit with controllable rate trade-offs. Key findings show up to 60% EE gains in the direct topology and notable, region-dependent improvements in the indirect topology, with system-level validation indicating meaningful energy and cost benefits in urban deployments when NCRs are intelligently managed.

Abstract

As the world enters the journey toward the 6th generation (6G) of wireless technology, the promises of ultra-high data rates, unprecedented low latency, and a massive surge in connected devices require crucial exploration of network energy saving (NES) solutions to minimize the carbon footprint and overall energy usage of future cellular networks. On the other hand, network-controlled repeaters (NCRs) have been introduced by 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) as a cost-effective solution to improve network coverage. However, their impact on network power consumption and energy efficiency has not been thoroughly investigated. This paper studies NES schemes for next-generation 6G networks aided by NCRs and proposes optimal NES strategies aiming at maximizing the overall energy efficiency of the network. Repeaters are shown to allow for power savings at next-generation nodeB (gNB), and offer higher overall energy efficiency (EE) and spectral efficiency (SE), thus providing an energy-efficient and cost-efficient alternative to increase the performance of future 6G networks

Figures (7)

• Figure 1: Direct topology. The is directly served by the .
• Figure 2: Indirect topology. The is served by the via an .
• Figure 3: Link-level simulation results for the direct topology. Relative and rate are computed for the -optimal configuration (resulting from the optimization in (\ref{['opt:direct']})) against the baseline configuration (i.e., the most spectral-efficient configuration) given increasing - distance.
• Figure 4: Link-level simulation results for the indirect topology. Relative and rate for the -optimal configuration are obtained after optimization of (\ref{['opt:indirect']}) for each - distance against the baseline case, where both and have their most spectral-efficient configuration.
• Figure 5: Link-level simulation results for the comparison vs. vs. + (assuming fixed efficiency).