Energy Efficiency testing of various Telecom equipment and Green Telecom

Energy Efficiency testing of various Telecom equipment and Green Telecom
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INDEX
Chapters PAGE
1. Introduction 3 2. International approaches to determine Energy Efficiency 5 3. Identification of classification of telecom equipments and
measurement methodology with matrices 7 4. Measurement procedure of IP Routers energy efficiency
measurements as a classical example 9 5. Way Forward 29 6. References 29
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Energy Efficiency testing of various Telecom equipment and Green Telecom
Abstract
Energy efficiency is one of the critical factors of modern telecommunication systems. The adoption of energy efficient telecom equipment worldwide would provide an impetus to telecom industry, telecom service providers, standard development organisation etc to standardize telecom network efficiency. The resultant such telecom products would promote stake holders, vendors, telecom service providers, equipment manufacturers etc. to build/install more sustainable and environment friendly telecom equipment with better energy efficient telecom network.
This study paper has been designed to understand fundamentals of energy efficiency, Energy Efficiency Metric, Energy Consumption Rating (ECR) and other important parameters used in energy efficiency measurement of any telecom equipment with a classical example of IP Routers energy efficiency testing based on ATIS0600015.03.2009 international standard.
1.Introduction
Due to increase in CO2 emissions and growing global warming have created a negative environmental impact in Telecom industry all over world at present. Therefore, challenges related to powering telecom infrastructure have multiplied in greater proportions. Reduction of Green House Gas emissions(GHG) and curbing power consumption by telecom networks and services has been initiated by service providers, equipment manufacturers etc. to enable energy efficiency improvements through use of energy efficient technologies viz. ICT Green metrics, eco-friendly consumables and evolving a carbon credit policy. Before we elaborate general principles of energy efficiency of any telecom equipment we must understand the fundamentals of energy efficiency, energy efficiency metric, energy consumption rating (EC) etc.
1.1 Energy Efficiency(N):
Energy efficiency with a generic definition that applies to any device that uses energy to do work is “Percentage of total energy input to a machine or equipment which is consumed in useful work and not wasted as useless heat. “Mathematically it is given as-
N=Pout/Pin Where,
Pout = Energy needed to do useful work,
Pin = Total energy. This can work very well where input and output can be measured in same units like power supplies or transformers. By definition Energy efficiency is always in range from 0 to 100% (if expressed in percentage).
1.2 Definition of the equipment energy efficiency ratio for router and switches-
Based on the router and switches energy consumption measurement and research by various international standards it would be shown that main factors of their energy consumption are the quantity of service boards configured traffic configuration, traffic load and ambient condition.
These factors shall be taken in to account for defining energy efficiency indicators, Therefore, energy efficiency ratio of equipment (EER) is defined as the throughput forwarded by one watt,
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unit-Gb ps/watt, higher the EER correspond to better energy efficiency. Routers are typical packets switching equipment running at the network layer of OSI Model layer 3.
Router selects the optimal according to destination address of received packet through a network and forward the packets to next routers. Last router is responsible for sending the packet to destination host. Router connect different physical networks and manually configure standard protocol run to obtained the information of each subnet such as label, no. of devices, name and addresses etc. and thus generate and maintain a live forwarding routing table. Based on this table, each IP packet would be forwarded to right path if the packet fails to get the path this packet will be abandoned so we can say that router can connect two or more independent flexible logical network different data packet methods and media access method. Routers does have any requirement of hardware in each subnet but shall run the software network layer protocol.
In the light of router different application, it can be broadly classified in to 4 routers- edge routers and aggregation routers (core, edge, access) as per ATIS standard 0600015.03.2009.
Switches generally referred to equipment that exchange information system that include Ethernet, ATM, FDDI and Token ring switches. Ethernet switches is widely used because of its low cost and work on data link layer of OSI layer 2 as packet switching devices.
1.3Energy Efficiency Metric: Recommendation of ITU-T L.1310 standard defines the energy efficiency metric. The energy efficiency metric is typically defined as the ratio between the functional unit and the energy necessary to deliver the functional unit. The higher the value of the metric, the greater the efficiency of the equipment. The inverse metric, energy divided by functional unit, could also be used as alternate. A metrics is a number to evaluate the energy efficiency of equipment. The energy efficiency rating (EER) is a metric generally defined as a functional unit divided by energy used. Energy efficiency metric can be described in hierarchy basis i.e. at network level, equipment/system level and the component level. a) Energy efficiency at network level: -Basically network level metrics constitute energy
efficiency of whole network or part of it e.g. the access network of an operator. b) Energy efficiency at equipment/system level: -it evaluates energy efficiency at
equipment level, which is considered as “single box/entity”. c) Energy efficiency at component level: -it evaluates energy efficiency of its individual
components.
A primary metric (ECR), for a device or a system of devices, which is calculated as
T
E
f
Ef = energy consumption (Watts) measured while running the test
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ECR is normalized to Watts/Gbps and has a physical meaning of energy consumed to move one Gigabit worth of line-level data per second. The ECR or Energy consumption rating as standard has been adopted across the world at present to improve the energy efficiency testing of various telecom devices and networks to reduce their associated carbon emissions.
1.4 Energy Consumption Rating (ECR): A team of Lawrence-Berkeley National Labs, Ixia, and Juniper Networks researchers introduced Energy Consumption Rating or ECR. A primary metric is a peak ECR value, for a device or a system of devices, which is calculated according to the following formula given below-
ECR =Ef/Tf [Watts/ Gbps] Equation-2
Where: Tf= maximum throughput (Gbps) achieved in the measurement
Ef= energy consumption (Watts) measured during running test .
ECR is normalized to Watts/Gbps and has a physical meaning of energy consumption to move one Gigabit worth of line-level data per second.
This reflects the best possible platform performance for a fully equipped system within a chosen application and relates to the commonly used interface speed.
ECR relates to the maximum throughput versus the energy consumed, but the throughput may not always be maximum. Hence middle level energy consumption is required to be estimated in the calculation of ECR.
2.0 International approaches to determine Energy Efficiency
Various international approaches are available to determine the Energy Efficiency of Telecom equipment and therefore their applicability to the various classes of telecom equipment’s have been studied. The ETS I(European Telecommunications Standards Institute), ATIS (Alliance for Telecommunication Industry Solutions) and ITU (International telecommunication Union) are the three major global standards organizations which have produced specifications on energy efficiency metrics and methods of assessment for telecom equipment’s. The ECR Initiative has produced an open specification of energy efficiency metrics and measurement for packet switched equipment. The Japanese ICT guideline council has also released guidelines for vendors and service providers to certify energy efficient equipment’s. International approaches which are relevant in determining the Energy Efficiency of Telecom equipment in Indian context are as follows:
2.1 ETSI Approach: -
ETSI technical committee on Environmental Engineering (ETSI EE) is concerned with the reduction of energy consumption and GHG emissions in telecommunications equipment and related infrastructure. Its present work includes:
The use of alternative energy solutions in telecommunication installations Reverse powering feeding Digital subscriber line (DSL) power optimization ICT energy consumption and global energy impact assessment methods
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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of ICT equipment, networks and services
ETSI is looking to measure energy consumption of equipment and power consumption at different traffic loads. The metrics provided by ETSI facilitates measuring the power used by ICT equipment at various loads. Several ETSI’S technical committee (TECs) are actively involved in specifying technology to improve energy efficiency for example- TEC-ATTM (Access, Terminal, Transmission and Multiplexing technical) committee deals with energy efficiency for broad band with close coloration with ETSI environmental engineering technical committee (TEC-EE) defines the energy efficiency methods. The metrics for Tests methodologies for wireless access technologies (such as radio base stations) are defined in terms of coverage or in terms of traffic in ETSI TS 102 706 contains the definition of independent traffic and dependent metrics, called static and dynamic measurement methods, respectively.
2.2 ITU-T Approach: -
ITU-T established the focus group SG-5 on ICTs and climate change in July 2008 and took into account two study points: -
Reducing energy consumption in ICT products.
Helping other sectors to reduce their energy consumption. Based on that the scope of ITU-T; ITU-T SG 5 discusses mainly clarification of GHG mitigation techniques; GHG impact assessment methodologies for contribution by the green of ICTs and DC power feeding system; energy efficiency metrics; universal power adapter for mobile cell phones; and environmental protection and recycling.
2.3 ATIS approach: The ATIS executive committee of the board commissioned the creation of an exploratory group on green, in September 2008. The Telecommunications Energy Efficiency Subcommittee (STEP-TEE) has been set up to develop standards and technical reports which define energy efficiency metrics, measurement techniques and new technologies, as well as operational practices for telecommunications components, systems and facilities. ATIS is looking to measure energy consumption of equipment, and power consumption at different traffic loads. The metrics provided by ATIS facilitates measuring the power used by ICT equipment at various loads. Telecommunication equipment is commonly available in both fixed and modular form factors. The metrics and methodology adopted for modular equipment (such as IP routers and switches) shall be as per ATIS-0600015.03.2009 document. The alliance for telecommunication industries solutions has introduce the telecommunication energy efficiency ratio or TEER as a measure of network element efficiency. The standards provide s the comprehensive methodology for energy consumption measurement ald also quantify energy efficiency ratio of work performed to energy consumed. These standards are widely popular in testing of routers, Ethernet switch equipment.
The proposed metric is: EER= Td/Pw [Mbit/W]
Where: Td is weighted throughput
Td = a * Tu1 + b * Tu2 + c * Tu3 Equqtion-3
Pw is weighted power (energy consumption rate)
Pw = a × Pu1+b × Pu2+c × Pu3 Equqtion-4
Where: (a, b, c) = relative weights for utilization levels, such that a+ b + c = 1;
(Pu1, Pu2, Pu3) = power measured at respective utilization levels.
(Tu1, Tu2, Tu3) = throughput measured at respective utilization levels.
2.4 Japanese ICT Ecology Guideline Council approach: -
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication (MIC), Japan report released in June 2009 by its “Study Group on Ecological Measures in the Info communications Industry”, the “ICT Ecology Guideline Council” formed on June 26, 2009 by:
Telecommunications Carriers Association (TCA)
Telecom Services Association (TELESA)
Communications and Information Network Association of Japan (CIAJ) and
ASP-SaaS-Cloud Consortium (ASPIC)
The council has been set up to provide following activities: -
Guideline to establish procurement standards of energy-saving equipment
Indicate an “assessment standard” to assist the formulation of “procurement standards” by TSPs for equipment and services with a focus on the reduction of CO2 emissions.
Guideline for disclosing self-assessment of ecology-conscious actions
3.0 Identification of classification of telecom equipment’s and measurement methodology with matrices: -
Before energy efficiency measurement of any telecom equipment classification of telecom equipment’s and measurement methodology with matrices need to be identified based on their functions and mode of operations with the relevant international standards and best practices on energy efficiency applicable to each class of equipment’s. The Telecom equipment which is currently covered by energy efficiency specifications from various international organizations have been categorized as:
3.1 Classification of Telecom Equipment: -
1) Access network equipment’s:
1. Fixed telecom equipment- Circuit switched, packet switched, set top boxes and Passive Optical Network.
2. Wireless telecom equipment- Circuit switched and packet switched.
2) Core network equipment’s:
1. Transport network equipment: Circuit switched optical equipment, converged packet optical equipment, Circuit switched equipment other than optical, and Packet switched equipment other than optical and specialised transport equipment.
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2. Mobile core Network equipment: 2G and 3G mobile network (Circuit switched interface and packet switched interface), GSM, UMTS radio 11 access control network, IMS core network equipment and EPS core network equipment.
3) Data centre equipment- A data centre is a facility that centralizes an organization's IT operations and equipment, and where it stores, manages, and disseminates its data. Data centres house a network's most critical systems and are vital to the continuity of daily operations.
Typically, data center networking creates a network infrastructure that is:
* Stable, secure and reliable
Supports networking requirements for modern technologies such as cloud computing and
virtualization
Scalable and can easily meet the requirements of network communications in peak
usage
The components and technologies that make up data centre networking generally include:
Networking equipment (routers, switches, modems, etc.)
Network cabling (LAN/WAN and network interface cabling)
Network addressing scheme such as IP V4 or IP V6
Network security (security protocols/encryption algorithms, firewalls, IDS)
Internet connectivity (satellite, DSL, wireless, optical)
4) Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) -
Customer premises equipment (CPE) is telephone or other service provider equipment that is located on the customer's premises (physical location) rather than on the provider's premises or in between. Telephone handsets, cable TV set-top boxes, and Digital Subscriber Line routers are examples. Historically, this term referred to equipment placed at the customer's end of the telephone line and usually owned by the telephone company. Today, almost any end-user equipment can be called customer premise equipment and it can be owned by the customer or by the provider.
5) Power Equipment-
It is basically measurement of power of any telecom equipment and is accessed by energy efficiency testing of telecom equipment based on certain and shall be governed by the process/criterion for standardization of telecom equipment
Measurement Procedure of a telecom equipment: -
3.2 Identification of measurement metrics: -
The first step towards standardization of Telecom Network is to identify on-going ICT metrics and measurement methods provided by ITU-T, ETSI, ATIS, TRAI, and other bodies active in the field of green ICT and as per the category of the equipment.
Once metrics for energy efficiency has been defined, the next step towards standardization is to understand the functionality of the network. Attempt to implement energy savings that compromise the functionality of the network may result in conflicting objectives as the network functionality is directly related to the revenue and profitability of the business (i.e. provisioning of telecom services).
3.3 Measure Energy Usage:
Next step is to identify the devices where the most of the energy is being used in the network. How the energy is used will vary not only according to application or network type, but it will also differ from one individual network to the other. The variation may be due to different load requirements, physical infrastructures and environmental factors as well as time of measurement (i.e. day/week/month/year). Measuring where energy is being used will highlight the areas where the energy savings may be made.
3.4 Analyze Network Architecture and components: -
After analysis of network energy usage and critical functions, architecture and components may be assessed. At this point there may be some components which may be identified as targets for replacement in order to save energy. However, in most cases significant savings will require evolution of system wise features. The most important at this stage, is to understand how the interaction of components throughout the network and the supporting infrastructure affects overall energy consumption.
3.5 Power measurement: -
Measurement accuracy is also an important factor in determining the energy consumed by telecom equipment at test facilities. Errors due to wrong configuration, insufficient samples can impact the determination of figure of merit for energy efficiency. The DC power equipment powering the equipment under test (EUT) should confirm to the electromagnetic noise requirements.
3.6 Environmental Considerations:
Environmental considerations for test and measurement of telecommunication equipment include:
1. Ambient temperature: The equipment should be evaluated at an ambient temperature of 25°±3ºC (77°F ±5°F); recommended methods may be employed to obtain the controlled measurement conditions: a. Test in a thermally controlled environment with recommended temperature of 27ºC (80.6°F) b. If fans are configurable, they shall be configured with speed settings to simulate the operating environment of 27ºC (80.6°F) and barometric pressure 1013.25 hPa
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(Standard" pressure, the baseline used universally, is 1013.25 hPa, equivalent to
1013.25 mbar or 29.92 inHg (inches of mercury). This setting is equivalent to the air pressure at mean sea level in the International Standard Atmosphere Pressure altitude) c. If fans are not configurable, a fan speed adjustment must be added to the measured system power.
2. Humidity: The telecommunication equipment should be evaluated at a relative humidity of 30% to 75%.
3. Barometric pressure: The equipment should be evaluated at site pressure between 860 to 1060 hPa. No targeted airflows are allowed except for regular ambient room, data centre or rack cooling.
4. Voltage supply [DC powered equipment, AC powered equipment] (i) DC powered equipment (-48 V DC systems):
Majority of telecommunication equipments (servers, routers, switched, transport etc.) are powered from central DC power plants. In such systems, the nominal load voltage can be from 50 to 55 VDC at the utilization equipment.
7 Equipment considerations: -
It is generally recommended that integrated power analyzer equipment be utilized for the purpose of measurements. However, an equivalent setup (voltage and current measurement equipment) with high sampling frequency and data storage capability is acceptable. Unless otherwise specified in a supplemental standard to this general requirements specification document, the power measurement equipment requirements would be as per the applicable national or international standards. Every active power feed should have the power (current) meter installed in the power line with a desired accuracy not less than ±1% of the actual power level. The power meter should include correction for power factor (PF) on AC feeds; otherwise, it will be necessary to also record the power factor in the measurement report.
a) Power source considerations: Power sources used to provide power to the EUT shall be appropriately over provisioned for any transient. A minimum of 1.5 times the power rating of the EUT is recommended.
b) Measurement duration: Measurements are recorded for a minimum specified duration after the EUT reaches a stable condition of operation. The appropriate duration for measurement is variable based on the equipment considered; metric of measurement and power saving modes considered. The appropriate minimum specified duration would be specified under each supplemental standard.
c) Test configurations: Equipments with multiple power connections (such as those provisioned with redundant power supplies) shall be configured with all power supply interfaces active and the total power flow from all these interfaces is computed to obtain the total system power consumption.
d) Energy measurements at variable loads: Supplemental standards would define the traffic conditions, load generation and requirements of each class of equipment. Measurements shall be carried out for the appropriate applicable traffic conditions and mode of generation. Power measurements would be averaged over the recommended time duration. All energy measurements shall be taken at the main system power supply unit…