Energy Consumption in Wireless Networks: The Big Picture
November 6, 2013
I recently came across a presentation on advanced antenna systems with the statement: “advanced antenna systems for power consumption savings not for capacity.” I was very intrigued for a couple of reasons. The first is how much of a problem is power consumption in wireless networks is. The second is that I recalled a conversation I had over 14 years ago with a colleague at Metawave prior to joining them. He said that they were approaching smart antenna systems from the perspective of capacity and not coverage. Back then, the nascent technology was traditionally targeted at improving coverage which was the reason why these systems failed to get traction in the market. So, today, we are changing the pitch for these systems from a capacity focus to a power savings focus. But will that make them more attractive? How much of a problem power consumption is?