5G is in the millimetre wave bands – 24-86 GHz. This slice of radio spectrum can carry large amounts of data, but not nearly as far as the current mobile network at frequencies from 700 megahertz to 6 gigahertz. What this means is that for 5G, a lot more equipment needs to be installed and potentially more data needs to be processed.
Additionally, it is important to note that millimetre wave communications are prone to interference. For example, radio at above 20 GHz doesn’t go through walls well. It doesn’t go through leaves well. It doesn’t play nicely with rain. What does this mean? Many, many more antennas.
Measuring networking power consumption requires the capacity to determine how much energy wired and wireless networks consume.
“A general concern is that higher data rates can only be achieved by consuming more energy; if the EE [energy efficiency] is constant, then 100× higher data rate in 5G is associated with a 100× higher energy consumption.” This is where headlines like, “Tsunami of data could consume 1/5 of global data by 2025,” come from.
In addition to transmitting or harvesting data, energy can also be moved in 5G networks. With 5G, one of the novel technologies being considered is Radio Frequency (RF) harvesting; converting energy in transmitted radio waves to user devices or even wireless infrastructure (microcells, antenna arrays, etc.). Since RF signals can carry both energy and information, theoretically RF energy harvesting and information reception can be performed from the same RF input signal. This scheme is referred to as the simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT). The hardware to support this doesn’t exist yet, but it has promise.
Our biggest area of concern, however, is in data centres. Radoslav Danilak asserts that data centers will consume exponentially larger amounts of electricity, arguing, “consumption will double every four years.”
Hellbound and Down 