AI builds the foundation for zero energy use at zero traffic
Energy efficiency continues to be a key consideration for telecommunications providers. The industry is constantly seeking innovative ways to reduce energy use and related costs without compromising network performance. At Nokia, we harness the power of AI to optimize energy savings in telecommunications networks, helping our customers achieve zero energy consumption during periods of zero traffic.
AI-driven energy optimization
Our comprehensive AI-driven solutions for energy savings span the entire portfolio of products and services. Key innovations include:
- Extreme deep sleep mode in 5G AirScale radios
- AI-optimized RAN energy savings and KPIs
- Traffic-aware sleep modes in mobile backhaul
- Energy-efficient site solutions
With AI-driven optimizations, the network can dynamically adapt to real traffic patterns at the cell level. This enables a much more granular approach to energy savings compared to using the same energy management settings across the entire network.
Now let’s explore these solutions in more detail.
Extreme deep sleep mode in 5G AirScale radios
Extreme Deep Sleep is a groundbreaking feature based on the latest ReefShark System-on-Chip technology. It enables Nokia’s AirScale Massive MIMO radios to enter an extremely low-power state during periods of zero traffic. This feature reduces energy consumption by up to 95% during inactive periods compared to active mode.
Maximizing the impact of sleep modes becomes a challenge if a telecommunications provider uses the same activation period over large clusters. This approach brings considerably less energy savings compared to cell-level settings. It is also likely to impact other network KPIs, such as performance, because the resource deactivation times do not align with traffic patterns.
Our extreme deep sleep mode supports cell-level configurations based on actual traffic patterns, which enables you to achieve maximum energy savings and safeguard network performance.
AI-optimized RAN energy savings and KPIs
MantaRay Energy is our AI-powered solution for managing the energy-saving RAN features. It automatically optimizes multiple daily sleep mode periods at the cell level to maximize energy savings based on site configurations and traffic patterns. It also monitors the network, ensuring that energy optimizations do not degrade operators’ KPIs.
Our latest innovation is dynamic threshold tuning across different periods of the day. Our AI algorithms predict future traffic patterns based on historical traffic data and optimize the traffic thresholds that activate and deactivate the energy-saving features.
AI brings up to 15% additional energy savings across the network without compromising performance and other KPIs.
Traffic-aware sleep modes in mobile backhaul
Our latest energy efficiency innovations for mobile backhaul include the traffic-aware AI algorithms, which can activate and deactivate the built-in sleep modes in Wavence microwave radios. These AI algorithms are part of the Network Services Platform (NSP).
AI enables a higher degree of accuracy in predicting traffic and managing the activation periods of sleep modes, making energy optimizations based on actual traffic patterns.
With traffic-aware AI optimization, we can reduce energy use by average 25% by intelligently orchestrating sleep modes, while minimizing manual operations and associated costs.
Energy-efficient site solutions
With our latest radio access network and microwave transport solutions, we have completely eliminated the need for air cooling, which is a major contributor to energy consumption in networks.
Our innovative All-in-one cabinet and zero-footprint RAN site solutions significantly enhance energy efficiency and support renewable energy sources at radio sites. They incorporate baseband units, rectifiers and batteries in a compact form factor and provide flexible installation options.
Our simplified microwave site solutions, which directly connect the baseband and microwave radio without the need for a cell router, can significantly reduce mobile backhaul energy consumption. Read our solution brief for more information on Energy-efficient wireless transport solutions with Nokia Wavence.
With AI and digital twins, our network planning and optimization services can cut the average energy consumption of base station and microwave transport configurations by an additional 15%. This also contributes to a reduction in related operational expenses and carbon emissions.
Let’s make zero-emission networks a reality
Our industry is in a key position to build networks that enhance the productivity and efficiency of other industries, while also contributing to a more sustainable society. As we continue to embed more AI capabilities into our products and solutions, we build the foundation for achieving zero energy consumption at zero traffic.
Visit our Zero-emission mobile networks webpage to learn more about our comprehensive solutions that help you pave a sustainable path to net zero.
