Power Consumption Perspective Analysis of the Effect of Baseband Function Placement and Resource Block Allocation in vRAN

Next-generation communication systems are expected to support communication services with diverse requirements. Virtualized Radio Access Networks (vRANs) can run baseband function on general-purpose servers, providing flexible network construction adapted to traffic conditions. Network slicing can control the baseband function placement and resource block allocation for each service slice, enabling carriers to provide optimal services based on user requirements. The power consumption within the communication system depends on individual user throughput and the communication infrastructure, including antennas and computers, utilized by each service. Therefore, ensuring energy efficiency while guaranteeing the communication performance required by users is essential. In this study, we analyze the effects of baseband function placement and resource block allocation on the energy efficiency in vRAN. To this end, we formulate the power consumption of the communication system and throughput and latency achieved by users. Further, we define performance metrics to evaluate the energy efficiency of a RAN. We confirm that vRAN achieves better performance in terms of energy use than those of conventional RAN environments.