Sustainable Growth for Cellular Wireless Networks

It has been widely recognised that the exchange of information is one of the underpinning factors for economic growth in developing and developed nations. One of the fastest growing areas of information transfer is the mobile data sector. In 2012, global mobile data traffic grew by 70%. There is an urgent need to improve the wireless capacity of cellular networks in order to match this growth. One of the key issues faced by mobile operators is the fall in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) and the growing Operational Expenditure (OPEX) due to capacity growth and rising energy prices. The challenge is therefore how to grow the wireless capacity in a way that minimizes the OPEX and thus improves the ARPU. Furthermore, there is growing focus on the environmental impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sectors. There are tangible, financial, and environmental motivations for reducing the energy expenditure of wireless networks whilst growing its capacity. This chapter examines recent research in the area of future wireless network architectures and deployments. This is done in the context of improving capacity in a sustainable way. That is to say, what is the lowest-cost and -energy method of achieving certain capacity targets? The authors of this chapter were researchers in the world’s first green wireless communications project—Mobile VCE Green Radio (2007-2012).