Open RAN Network Energy Saving: Cell Switching On/Off

Feel invited to read my recent post on the Rimedo Labs blog entitled: O-RAN Network Energy Saving: Cell Switching On/Off

The energy efficiency of mobile networks is of high importance to the telecom industry. Significant effort has been put in during the standardization phase of 5G NR by 3GPP to provide unified mechanisms aimed at providing MNOs with network energy savings. At the same time, to enable intelligent, case-dependent optimization of EE, possibly with the use of ML techniques algorithms need access to network interfaces for monitoring KPIs and control actions enabled by O-RAN architecture.

In this blog post, I provide the description of an algorithm that can be realized as an rApp in the O-RAN architecture aimed at improving the network’s EE through intelligent cell on/off switching. First, a general framework for long-timescale EE optimization is provided which can be implemented in Non-RT RIC. Then, the implementation of the Cell On/Off Switching algorithm within the O-RAN framework is proposed. Finally, opportunities and challenges are discussed.

Read my complete article: