Energy aware networks from a point of view of a telecom operator

Yvon Gourhant (R&D Program Manager - Orange Labs)

Abstract

This talk will address energy issues within fixe and mobile networks from the point of view of an operator. Even if today, the energy cost is not a primary issue in industrialized countries, its importance will increase in the next few years and there will exist a need to reduce the footprint of telecom operators in global energy consumption on one hand, and on the other hand to reduce increasing costs of network energy consumption in particular in the context of growing bandwidth consumption. We will look at the consumption ratio in the different parts of networks (home gateway, access, backhaul, and core) as well as the level of processing in the network. We will describe briefly planned solutions for mitigating energy consumption in future evolutions of networks. Then, the talk will largely focus on emerging countries, looking at constraints and solutions currently investigated (infrastructure sharing, access network offload, alternative energy power supply, ...)

Short Bio

Yvon Gourhant acquired his Ph.D in Computer Science at INRIA in 1991. After one year in DSG group at Trinity College Dublin, he joined the R&D division of France Telecom in Lannion (Brittany in France) in 1993, still working in distributed systems. From 1998 to 2009, he was leading a R&D team on programmable and adaptable networks. In 2007 and 2008, he was also leading and acting in a R&D program on Light Infrastructure Networks that encompass ad hoc/mesh networks, self-organized sensor networks, and vehicular networks. Since mid of 2009, he is leading and acting in a research program on low-cost network infrastructures that take into account emerging countries constraints (e.g., low ARPU, energy efficiency, infrastructure less networks). This talk takes place in the context of this last.