Cross-Layer Interference Management: Bringing Interference Alignment to Reality

Synopsis

The rapid growth of wireless communication has intensified energy demands for both base stations and user equipment (UE), requiring innovations at both ends to enhance power efficiency. On the base-station side, traditional systems like massive MIMO consume significant energy due to the linear scaling of power with the number of RF chains. Solutions such as GreenMO and PhaseMO address these challenges by introducing virtualized RF chains and adaptive load-based optimizations, achieving up to 50% power savings and enhanced spectrum efficiency. Additionally, DensQuer demonstrates the benefits of base-station densification, where smaller, strategically placed cells reduce transmit power needs, improve energy efficiency by 3x, and simplify deployment with lower infrastructure requirements.

For user equipment, power consumption remains dominated by key subsystems like display and cellular connectivity. Tools like Google’s On Device Power Rails Monitor (ODPM) have revealed specific energy usage patterns, informing optimization strategies. For instance, densified base-station networks help reduce UE transmit power by 10–15 dB, extending battery life by 50% for smartphones. These innovations not only enhance user experience but also contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of mobile devices, addressing an important sustainability challenge in modern communication systems.

Fig 1: Impact of densification on UE and base-station power consumption

Personnel

Dinesh Bharadia: PI, UC San Diego

Alireza Vahid: PI, Rochester Institute of Technology

Sajjad Nassirpour, San Diego State University

Agrim Gupta, UC San Diego

Adel Heidari, UC San Diego

Publications