Energy Efficiency of Multiple Antenna Cellular Networks Considering a Realistic Power Consumption Model

We analyze the area energy efficiency (AEE) of a cellular network employing spatial multiplexing (SM), maximal ratio transmission and transmit antenna selection (TAS) schemes. Moreover, we consider a realistic power consumption model for small base stations (BSS), which includes the power consumed by the backhaul as well as different interference attenuation levels. Our goal is to maximize the AEE by deploying the optimal number of BSS given some requirements, such as demanded network capacity, amount of interference and employed MIMO scheme. Results show that TAS performs better in terms of AEE when the interference is not fully canceled and for no interference cancellation when the demand for system capacity is lower, while SM becomes more energy efficient when the demanded capacity is higher. Additionally, when the capacity demand and the area to be covered are fixed, we show that although achieving the highest AEE, TAS also demands more small BSS than SM. The system performance in terms of AEE is shown to be strongly dependent on the amount of interference, which in turn depends on the employed interference-mitigation scheme and on the power consumption model.