executive
insight
Alcatel-Lucent
Radical new network designs could be needed if operators are going
to provide new data services as well as lower carbon emissions
head of the Copenhagen talks a linear extrapolation,” says Rittenhouse.
A
some scientists were calling One of the reasons for considering
‘We continue to push
for radical solutions to tackle a radical redesign of networks and the
global climate change, arguing equipment that drives them is the inexora-
on anything that
that current commitments from govern- ble growth in data traffic, and Rittenhouse
ments do not go far enough to make a sig- says that throws into question energy re- reduces energy’
nificant difference. Similarly, while many duction road-maps: “[There is a] 10% to
telcos are already delivering products that 20% per year reduction [in energy use]…
Gee Rittenhouse
reduce energy consumption on today’s [but] the data rate is [rising] faster than
networks, new applications could demand that…And when you look at initiatives not,” explains Benowitz. Dynamic software
a leap in network design if reduction tar- that want to offload carbon emissions means network equipment is powered to
gets are to be met. onto ICT infrastructure by smart grids the extent it is called upon, which allows
Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs research arm and video conferencing it just puts on for considerable energy savings, he says.
is currently looking at radical ways to im- more of a load,” he says. China Mobile, for example, has in-
prove dramatically energy efficiency on However, Alcatel-Lucent also recog- stalled dynamic software to monitor traffic
the networks of tomorrow. “The biggest nises that its customers have made hefty and instantly adjust energy consumption
thing we’ve been working on over the last investments in current network design accordingly. As a result, the operator has
few months is asking the question of the that they wish to amortise, while also op- made energy savings of between 25% and
minimum amount of energy needed to timising for energy efficiency. “It would 30% on a given basestation, says Benowitz,
transmit [bits],” says Gee Rittenhouse, Bell be much easier if we had a clean slate, with savings typically higher in rural areas
Labs vice president and head of research. but it is uneconomical to throw out the and lower in densely populated cities.
“Today’s networks are optimised around old stuff,” says Marc Benowitz, direc- Benowitz believes that wired networks
performance and [unit] cost” rather than tor of eco-environmental engineering at “are a little bit ahead” when it comes
minimum energy use, he adds. Alcatel-Lucent’s Chief Technology Office. to addressing the question of dynamic
“We are really thinking about networks “How do you extend life and get it almost powering. However, operators have run
and communications from an energy per- as energy efficient?” into quality-of-service issues, which are
spective…We do it by directly focusing Rittenhouse points to the grow- still being resolved by standards bodies.
on all energy being used in communica- ing number of bits equipment can carry “There has been a bit of a problem…[in
tions. We continue to push on anything coupled with technologies that reduce that] the lower power state in a line would
that reduces energy rather than cost,” says interference. “The major limitation is in- [cause] cross talk,” says Benowitz.
Rittenhouse. “What we are trying to do is terference from other users, be they wire- Operators also have to weigh up the
essentially the equivalent of powering a less or DSL,” says Rittenhouse. “However, environmental implications of installing fi-
refrigerator with the amount of power to technologies are coming out that elimi- bre-to-the-building networks. “End-to-end
light the LED on a phone.” nate interference [with] algorithms that FTTH is more energy efficient and [opera-
To achieve that aim, he says, it would take into account other users, and you can tors] have to take into account the amount
be necessary to create a different kind get significant growth in capacity without of bandwidth” they need when calculating
of network with low energy processing necessarily increasing power.” the benefits of upgrading, says Benowitz.
powers akin to those of the human brain. What’s more, operators can use dy- “It’s like moving from a 20-centimetre di-
“Today’s [telecoms network] circuits oper- namic software to ensure the energy con- ameter pipe to a 1-metre diameter pipe to
ate at several volts. The reason…is to en- sumption of network equipment reflects transport water. Its capacity is much bigger
sure there are no errors. If you compare network usage. Historically, DSL and for the same amount of energy.”
that to the [human] brain, circuits there wireless network equipment have been Whether operators choose to make
operate with a lot of errors but also very designed to provide high availability and incremental improvements to today’s net-
low voltages. [The brain] dissipates 20 be always-on, which means they are fully work architectures or embrace an eventual
watts. If you built a computer with the powered whether anyone is using them or radical network design, there is already
same processing power, it would dissipate not. “A wireless cell tower is radiating at pressure from customers to save energy.
20 megawatts,” says Rittenhouse. almost 100% whether there is one call or “Many recent RFPs have been very clear in
Bell Labs has set itself a tall order. “It’s 100 calls [and] DSL routers are consum- terms of the focus on energy efficiency…
several orders of magnitudes different. It ing energy at DSLAM and central office to the point of asking for plans and road-
will require a major breakthrough. It is not whether you are at home [using them] or map,” says Benowitz. n
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