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Power-Efficient RAN Intelligent Controllers Through Optimized KPI Monitoring

João Paulo S. H. Lima, George N. Katsaros, Konstantinos Nikitopoulos

TL;DR

It is identified that RIC's power consumption can become a scalability bottleneck, particularly in large-scale deployments, even when RIC is limited to its core operational functionalities and without incorporating application-specific processes.

Abstract

The Open Radio Access Network (RAN) paradigm envisions a more flexible, interoperable, and intelligent RAN ecosystem via new open interfaces and elements like the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC). However, the impact of these elements on Open RAN's power consumption remains heavily unexplored. This work for the first time evaluates the impact of Key Performance Indicator (KPI) monitoring on RIC's power consumption using real traffic and power measurements. By analyzing various RIC-RAN communication scenarios, we identify that RIC's power consumption can become a scalability bottleneck, particularly in large-scale deployments, even when RIC is limited to its core operational functionalities and without incorporating application-specific processes. In this context, also for the first time we explore potential power savings through the elimination of redundant KPI transmissions, extending existing techniques for identical subscription removal and KPI selection, achieving significant power consumption gains exceeding 87\% of the overall RIC power consumption.

Power-Efficient RAN Intelligent Controllers Through Optimized KPI Monitoring

TL;DR

It is identified that RIC's power consumption can become a scalability bottleneck, particularly in large-scale deployments, even when RIC is limited to its core operational functionalities and without incorporating application-specific processes.

Abstract

The Open Radio Access Network (RAN) paradigm envisions a more flexible, interoperable, and intelligent RAN ecosystem via new open interfaces and elements like the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC). However, the impact of these elements on Open RAN's power consumption remains heavily unexplored. This work for the first time evaluates the impact of Key Performance Indicator (KPI) monitoring on RIC's power consumption using real traffic and power measurements. By analyzing various RIC-RAN communication scenarios, we identify that RIC's power consumption can become a scalability bottleneck, particularly in large-scale deployments, even when RIC is limited to its core operational functionalities and without incorporating application-specific processes. In this context, also for the first time we explore potential power savings through the elimination of redundant KPI transmissions, extending existing techniques for identical subscription removal and KPI selection, achieving significant power consumption gains exceeding 87\% of the overall RIC power consumption.
Paper Structure (9 sections, 4 equations, 5 figures)

This paper contains 9 sections, 4 equations, 5 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. RIC Architecture Overview
  3. Experimental Setup
  4. E2 Interface Traffic and Power Measurement
  5. Addressing Redundant KPI Transmissions
  6. The Limitations of the Current Approaches
  7. Minimizing KPI Traffic
  8. The Power Gains of Optimizing KPI Transmissions
  9. Conclusions

Figures (5)

  • Figure 1: The Near-RT-RIC architecture, and the employed measurement setup, showing the key interfaces and interactions between the Near-RT RIC, Service Management and Orchestration (SMO), Non-RT RIC, Y1 consumers, and xApps.
  • Figure 2: Evaluations of E2 traffic and RIC power for different workloads.
  • Figure 3: Principles of the KPI request merge process.
  • Figure 4: KPI selection mechanism detects potential KPI duplicates and optimizes the requests.
  • Figure 5: The estimated RIC power savings with redundant KPI transmission avoided.